


Fangs and Sapphire

by Adeni



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action & Romance, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Ancestors, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Attempt at Humor, Family Feels, M/M, Mild Smut, Mpreg, Omega Verse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Character Death, Post Mpreg, Romance, Supernatural Elements, Tattoos, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Visions in dreams, Yakuza
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2018-12-25 16:14:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 44,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12039561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adeni/pseuds/Adeni
Summary: This is going to focus mainly on the Katsumi family's romantic relationships.





	1. Prologue: Life is Love

**Author's Note:**

> *Huge sigh* I caught them feels. This whole month has just been one sucky thing after another. There was this tall, dark, handsome guy 3 years older I met like 1 and a 1/2 years ago over the summer. We talked and talked but me being a fucking genius, I forgot to ask for his number. And then a week later we meet in the library and we got caught up. So finally our conversation comes to an end and he's all like "well nice catching up with you but I have to go pick up my wife." Like, dafuq!! I was having a mental breakdown. I might've broken the replay button for Taylor Swift's you belong with me.

* * *

Takayuki is sitting on the cuddle couch and deeply sleeping snugly warm hugging his knees is Minori. His gentle fingers tangling through the fine strawberry blonde hair with as much adoration as lost lovers reborn and the French love song he serenades his sleeping form with are cut short by rowdy tiffs in various voices outside the family room doorway. The pushing and shoving continues til finally their identities are revealed. In their graceless tumble, they stack atop each other in a pyramid arranged by age, oldest as base and youngest at the apex. Takayuki shushes them before they begin to wake the fatigued Omega who fell asleep on him the moment he came home from the office.

Kouji and Yuji attempt to bicker quietly between them, however announce everything in their loudest hushed voices, “Ask him,” the ten year old big brother pushes the responsibility on his younger brother. Yuji parrots for his precious Kou-nii to ask about the picture. Maki, in the meantime, is being crushed by the combined weight of the bickering brothers, Kanata, and two year old Seiji at the top of the pyramid.

Takayuki sighs with a happy smile, “What do you want to ask me, soldier boys?” They come closer with goofy smiles and wait to see who will be brave enough to ask about that old picture they came upon in the attic. Kanata slaps both brothers on the back for shameful cowardice and bravely brings forth the cut out image from an old political magazine.

“This person here is Daddy-san, right? It’s not someone who just happens to look like him, isn’t that right?” Takayuki uses all of his facial muscles to show that he is happy Kanata just subconsciously referred to his mate as practically father-in-law and brings said magazine folded in half closer to his squinted eyes as well as inviting the group eagerly awaiting his reply to come sit around.

“Yeah, no mistake about it. This is definitely him. But this picture was about ten years ago.” Kanata and his admirer join forces against Yuji and Maki as they so triumphantly yell out their conjoined ‘See! We told you.’ Looks like this won’t be the last time the younger brother and Alpha in sunglasses are going to hear about the young couple’s boasting. “Actually, aren’t you going home to Haru-kun, pet dog?”

“According to him we don’t have a relationship so if I’m gone long enough he’ll miss me and come to me himself. Distance makes the heart grow fond. Why not put me up for a few weeks?” _Weeks!? Get the hell out of my house._ Maki obstructively finds space for himself on the cuddle couch by Takayuki’s feet- much to the older Alpha’s vexation- while his children get cozy, Kouji with his head in Kanata’s soft lap for a pillow, and toddler Seiji with hair as straight as straight can be cradled in big brother Yuji’s warm arms. One big happy family in position for storytime by the fireplace. The rattled questions storm his perked-up anticipating ears.

Yuji bats first, enviously but lovingly stroking his baby brother’s untangled light auburn locks, “When did you fall in love?” Maki slips the ear of his dark fashionable sunglasses over the sleepwear shirt’s hem and presses on unfazed by Takayuki’s glare for permitting himself to intrude on the romantic cuddling to ask, “What did you used to do before you came over to this side?” Kouji takes his chances by clasping Kanata’s hand and for that the blonde boy rewards him with a tender kiss to his temple, mimicked from observing none other than the overly romantic parents. The freckled boy asks, “How did you meet?”

Takayuki gets himself comfy as well for the long but loveliest story that he’s been dying to tell his kids forever, “They’re all the same story actually, so why don’t I pick up from when we first met!”

**The fateful night after Takayuki dropped the Political off.**

Minori stalks off to the car parked in an inconspicuous area of the garden shrouded in disguise in the dead of night for the promised conversation partner session. He takes his black cap off and lays it on the dashboard, Takayuki watches as his breath catches merely at the sight of him fixing his out of place hair which has a noticeably reddish tint when so close to him.

He pulls down the bill of his fancy chauffeur’s hat to cover his nervousness. _I didn’t really think he’d sneak out in the middle of the night just to have simple conversations with some random driver. What a very unusual Young Master._ “Hello, Takayuki-san.” _Even the casual greeting feels like something special coming from him!_ He kindly puts out his cigarette when the smoke starts to make Minori cough, “How was your day?”

 _I hope my voice doesn’t crack._ “The usual. I drove here, drove there, drove everywhere.” The involuntary rhyme steals a laugh from Minori. Takayuki eases up at the beautiful quick laugh and converses casually, “What did you do today?”

“I had some lessons on proper table etiquette and botanical instruction from my private tutor. First Brother and Second Brother forced me along to accomplish some dull tasks and the servants were most probably insulting me behind my back. So the usual for me as well, I presume.”

 _Why is the older one always balding when I see him? We should be around the same age. They have about two brain cells between them._ “I hate your brothers.” He looks to see if that will cause him offense but instead catches hint of a restrained cute little smile down at the floor from the Omega unable to raise his head being so close to Takayuki.

He speaks in a meek voice, “I share the same sentiments. My Brothers are as…”

“Are you trying to say your brothers are assholes? You don’t know how to curse?”

Minori eases up to enjoy their brief minutes together as well, “I do! I know how to swear, see. First Brother and Second Brother are d-d-dumbasses! Father is an a-asshole! Mother is a b-bit-” Takayuki has to cover his mouth to stifle laughter, Minori who almost sacrificed his tongue off just to say the most childish swear words gets redder the more the chauffeur’s shoulders shake. _What is this, an after midnight swearing session?_

“The words don’t sound right coming from a pampered rich boy’s mouth.”

Minori fixes his eyes back to the floor of the luxury brand car morosely, “You seem accustomed to this type of coarse colloquial language. As for me, I’m only allowed to keep company with drab old men and gossiping chatterboxes. Good night.” He grabs his disguise cap and soundlessly exits the vehicle.

Takayuki catches his hand, first in a daze about its surreal softness like the highest quality plush, then catches himself mid-fall off the delving cliff of rationality, “I didn’t mean to call you a pampered rich boy.”

Minori graces the winter roses perfuming the air his radiantly sad smile, “I know.” His trodding steps back to his room are concealed under cover of darkness. _Is he mad? I probably said something wrong. I hope he’s not mad. That was the funnest 20 minutes I’ve spent in the last 25 years I’ve been alive and all we did was talk._ He sniffs the aromatic scent on his hand with infatuation, to which at this part of the story Maki interjected and commented that he was being strange and had better not done with that hand what he imagines.

After much heated squabbling between the two Alphas the story resumes.

Minori is eating dinner with his family and they all have their eyes set on him with disgust, not the usual brand in shun of his existence, but a new brand formed by his improper table etiquette. The words from their last conversation play on repeat to occupy his mind until their next midnight date. He coughs up his food again to make way for the storms of giggles. His brothers survey his out-of-place behavior, failing to recognize this new person capable of smiling and laughing so openly unlike their gloomy youngest brother just a week ago, but their looks of confusion only rewind the memory, _First Brother and Second Brother are dumbasses._ His mother clears her throat threateningly and he settles down momentarily, however watching her huge gaping mouth swallow the slice of bleeding steak cooked medium rare brings the tears back to his eyes, _Mother is a bitch._ He puts his elbows on the hefty table and smartly clinks silverware against fine bone china. Nothing can stop the force of the hysteria; he pinches his nose in hopes that the madness will release possession. The politician crashes his polished utensils down on the lavish refurbished dining table with face the color to match his red rare steak out of utmost anger. “Excuse yourself from the table!!” _Father is an asshole._

Minori cackles all the way to his bedroom up the eighth floor, not caring who thinks him strange, mind totally occupied to the brim with everything Takayuki. Their next meeting two weeks later wasn’t as joyful. Time just couldn’t have passed any slower for Takayuki since his driving services are mainly put to use by the politician or his wife and other sons but rarely the one person who seldom is allowed leave of the house; the one person he would die to see.

Today he is required to drive all three brothers to their respective destinations and after figuratively sneaking hundreds of quick glances through the rear view mirror at the only Omega in the car physically divided from his brothers by the literal barrier they enforced, he doesn’t have to have known him for years to see that his mood is beyond sour. Minori sticks to the right side of the window with elbows on knee and face listlessly resting in hands.

His dumb and dumber brothers on their left side snicker and sneer, making it hard to guess in this case which one is older due to fact that both possess the conjoined intelligence of a bottle cap. “Your performance today was not at all that atrocious. Surely they were exaggerating,” says First Brother.

Second Brother cosigns, “Perhaps his Father is only harsh because he wishes for someone worthy to join their family. Do take care not to embarrass us, dear brother.”

Takayuki keeps his eyes on the road but ears attuned to every word breathed. _What performance?_ He catches Minori’s eyes briefly but the Omega turns away and speaks with calculated cool, “My embarrassments alone are not enough to shame our family. Your scholarly failures in addition to my shortcomings when combined may just be what it takes to hopefully run this pitiful family into the ground once and for all.”

The tension heats up murderously, First Brother’s forehead veins show through his consistently receding hairline, “What is that you say?! We do not have to bestow any special treatment onto you for simply being engaged to Masayoshi-sama! Who cares what happens to your mental state as long as we can deliver your physical body to them and increase our social standing!” _Masayoshi, the fiance who doesn’t like his hair and freckles. How can they call themselves his brothers and say bullshit like that?_

“I believe Father would also be of similar mind to overlook a little ‘brotherly punishment for bad behavior’ even if you do so happen to be Masayoshi-sama’s fiance.” _This is why I hate all of them. He’s always being ganged up on._

“The name Masayoshi never ceases to be apart from your mouths longer than your unintelligible statements. If you are so taken by that egocentric man, then by all means be my guest and replace me my duties as his betrothed.”

They make their malicious intent starkly obvious, First Brother reaches out intending to inflict bodily harm in plain sight. _I won’t let you hurt him while I’m here._ Takayuki swerves the car to the left at a sharp turn away from Minori. The sinister brothers slam their heads on their side’s window. First Brother repeatedly stomps the driver’s seat forward, “What the hell, you barbaric fool!”

“My sincerest apologies, sir. The brakes are a tad bit sticky.”

“Drive properly if you do not wish to be dismissed. My Father shall hear of this. For now, drop us off here, fool!”

“Yes, sir.” Second Brother swings open their door and they make off with huffs and stomps. Minori suavely picks himself off from the middle seat and pats down his more expensive than normal luxury brand attire. Takayuki at long last sips in crisp air and refreshing sunshine, “You okay? Took them long enough to leave.” He smiles into the mirror, “It’s good that you don’t let them talk to you like that.”

Minori gets back to the same elbows on knee, head resting in hand, emotionlessly staring out the window pose. “Do not wrongfully assume my silence as invitation for discourse. Just drive.” The detached unsubtle sentences in Takayuki’s mind came from light years away, sounding so much like the beautiful voice of an angel he’d been dying to hear just once more, yet so hideous, so aristocratic. All traces of the smile vanish completely along with unrealistic expectations.

What a fool he had been to think that they could overcome their restricting social barriers and actually become friends, maybe even more hopefully! His stupidity, his vanity, his conceit! He mentally rebukes himself for even becoming attached to the nobleman he believed so much more human, more humble, more lovable than the arrogant upper-class he was in constant exposure to. He keeps his cap down over his face and pretends that his fragile still beating heart was not just ripped out of his chest and crushed in Minori’s heavenly fragranced bare hands, “Yes, Master.” But even then, he can’t will himself to fully hate the Omega ignoring his presence, and he hates himself ever the more for that weakness. So close yet so far, bliss and torture; Heaven and Hell’s thin line.

Only once the distance to the large Japanese-style house closes do his drooped ears capture the sound of snuffed out sniffles and sobs. His bleeding heart constricts. Why is he crying? Who made him cry? What can I do for him? These questions speedily chase after one another in his unsettled psyche. Minori’s voice comes as a scarcely audible squeak, “Anywhere but here.”

Takayuki immediately changes course and takes many detours until the car is parked at an industrial construction site far out of the way of the rumbling city and its twinkling neon lights. He sits there tapping the steering wheel and contemplating of what assistance an uneducated low-class driver can be to someone of high birth and their daily struggles that he couldn’t even begin to fathom. He waits for the sobs to go quiet, “What performance were they talking about?” Minori continues crying. “A musical performance?”

The aristocratic airs come undone, “We practice being ‘married.’ Masayoshi-sama and I.”

“What does that mean, ‘married’?”

“Are you stupid? Figure it out yourself! We perform how to consummate our marriage in front of my parents, his parents, and advisors so as I have knowledge of the positions best to pleasure him and increase my chances of conceiving male heirs once my heat comes and we are required to become one. Every step except penetration. According to his Mother if I fail to produce a son within the first month, it is because I am either impure or my visually unappealing features stand in way of our marital coitus. They don’t have to look very deep to find whatever flaws in me they can nitpick, all of them like vultures! Masayoshi-sama did nothing as his Mother said all this to me in front of an entire court of people. Why would he when he himself was too busy shedding light on how at first I was too skinny and now too fat even after I had to suffer two hard weeks of a forced diet!”

Suddenly Takayuki gets out of the car and hops in the back seat. He tears up every article of the expensive high thread-count brand clothes dressed on his body, save for his underwear, all in the midst of Minori thrashing violently and screaming for his life, looking like an innocent man about to be hanged. Young and wealthy in the middle of nowhere with no one to hear his screams for miles and alone with a partial stranger he’s had a conversation with no more than four times, his mind races to what plausible, unimaginable, and painful acts lie in wait for him: one of two surely- ransom or rape. “Don’t touch me! Keep your filthy hands off me, ape! This is what you were after all this time!”

*Takayuki pauses recounting while the children gasp in exasperation. Yuji glances to Minori’s sleeping form. “I can’t believe Daddy actually said those rude things to you!” He runs his doting fingers through the strawberry blonde hair and nods in reminiscence. Maki wipes away his smile by interjecting his opinion that he wasn’t wrong to be called an ape. After the younger Alpha pulls himself from the ground with a new collection of bruises, the story resumes.

The chauffeur lets himself be slapped around, overjoyed being at least of some use now as a punching bag even if he is gravely mistaken toward his intentions. Finally Minori settles down when he sees that the Alpha is not acting on any misconstrued sexual gratifications or financial opportunities. _They all love to call us apes and mongrels, don’t they._ _Is it just me or is slapping the shit out of someone the national sport for rich people?_ “I didn’t mean to terrify you, I just thought you looked suffocated wearing those stupid fancy clothes, so I took them off for you. They don’t suit you one bit.” _I just ripped up high quality cashmere and silk that cost more than me, my old man, and everything we own put together. But I don’t care. Fuck it._ “And to be honest, from what I’m seeing, you have a really hot body.” Minori’s arms fly automatically to cover his semi-naked body from the heated scanning eyes.

Takayuki catches himself smiling and instantly puts the bubbling emotions to death, his burns from being rejected earlier not yet healed and now being thought of as an ape who would take advantage of him when he’s feeling dejected? The world has gone bleak. “I keep my normal clothes in the trunk for when I’m called in on my days off, though they’re nothing brand name, please use them if you like.”

Minori reflects on his shameful behavior in Takayuki’s absence. All of the hurtful words and conceited tone, betraying his expectations, belittling his feelings. By the time Takayuki gets back he is in the passenger seat and wearing his hideous sea foam green sweats. Takayuki hands the brown bag through the window and smokes outside the car since the tobacco smoke affects the Omega. “Starving your body is not healthy.” Minori pokes at the unfamiliar greasy fast food in the bag, “I can’t afford caviar, but food is food.”

He passes no time scarfing down every last morsel to satisfy his neglected stomach’s appetite, biting great chunks off the burger and shoving crispy golden fries in before giving himself the chance to properly chew then nearly choking himself with oceanic gulps of the coke. Takayuki stubs the cigarette underfoot and hops back in the driver’s seat with a small smile. Minori sniffles again at the kindness and talks with his mouth full, “I didn’t mean the things I said.” He continues messily eating and drinking coke mixed with salty tears.

“Yeah. You were just stressed. I can’t say I understand your difficulties, but I do know that you have it really tough, so stick in there.” Takayuki wipes the crumbs and sauce around the corners of his mouth with the tissues kept in the glove compartment and his tears with the sleeve of his chauffeur uniform. “After you’re done you can change into those clothes,” the bags of new clothes bought along with the food in the back seat, “I don’t think it would be appropriate to take you home wearing my clothes. They’d immediately find suspicion with it.”

They do find suspicion with it just as he predicted when he takes him home hours later. The head butler’s scorn shoots through him like hellfire. Dubious about the conceived lie, his questions repeat again. Why are you only bringing the Young Master home at this late an hour? Takayuki answers, “Because we experienced mechanical problems with the car on the way back.” If the car broke down whilst on the road, why did you not call for assistance? “I had forgotten to charge my phone the night previous and the Young Master had left his at home.” His questions go on forever. Why is the Young Master wearing cheap clothes? Was there anyone besides you with the Young Master?

Minori uses his status to put a stop to the infinite interrogation. “I wish to retire for the night. Prepare my room.” The head butler continues chastising Takayuki with revolted eyes alone.

“Yes, Young Master,” Takayuki stands at perfect attention while he gets stared down, trying to look subservient instead of rebellious, “Another repeat offense such as tonight will not be forgiven. Take whatever precautions necessary to account for the Young Master’s convenience and safety at all times as is your given duty being the Master’s primary chauffeur.”

Takayuki bows his head feeling not one iota of remorse, “Yes, sir.” The graying old man with poise upright posture strolls leisurely as cue for Minori to follow and Takayuki to show himself to the door. _Why does he have to look at me like that? It’s not like I kidnapped him. Oh wait… I guess I did?_ He yanks Minori back once the strict man has his back turned. _The Katsumi family's love chant guaranteed to make anyone fall in love with you. Repeat 3 times. Katsumi, Katsumi, Katsumi._ There is no one in sight to see him boldly grace a long kiss on his rosy left cheek. Sound becomes silence. For that one second frame of time, the world burst into every color on the color wheel imaginable, from the moment Takayuki’s lips put their shape to his cheek to the quickly uttered “I’ll be here for you if you need a shoulder to cry on” before he sauntered off. The thirteen words that stole Minori’s world forever.

Four days have passed but the jack-hammering of his heart has not. Daily tortures such as being forced to spend his mornings reserved for appalling anatomical lessons, afternoons being bored to death with Masayoshi, and nights humiliated practicing undressing before judgmental scrutinizing eyes have lost all wearying tedium to them. Because in his mornings, he imagines being alone in a room with Takayuki, in the afternoon he pictures strolling the gardens and Takayuki the one to adorn his hair with beautiful pink roses, at night it is he and Takayuki reenacting the steps to consummation.

Takayuki counts again to make sure, and after the fourth time the sum is consistent- still half of what he’s due. _You gotta be fucking kidding me._ “Senpai, this is half of my working wages.” _There’s always more missing than last time. Does this fucker think I don’t need the money too!?_

“Maybe you’re not counting right. It’s not like you know how to count.”

“I counted right! I know that I definitely earned more than this!” _I know that you go drinking with the money you steal off my paychecks!_

“What are you complaining about? You should be thanking your lucky stars you even get a salary, high school drop-out. Think about how grateful you should be feeling to me for introducing you to this job! Keep glaring at me and I’ll speak to the old bastard about your much needed attitude adjustment.” Takayuki reluctantly schools his storming rage to be as still as a calm lake, “Good. Now thank me from the bottom of your heart like the imbecile you are.”

 _I want to see him again. I wonder how he’s doing. They’re all probably still attacking him every way they can. Does he cry when he’s alone in the middle of the night? I really want to be with him again. Heh, I must be getting pretty desperate if I’m willing to do things like this for this motherfucker just to see the politician’s son._ “Thank you very much for taking care of me.” He cockily tosses the car keys to Takayuki, feeling dominant and arrogant.

“Today is your day to get the car cleaned. Take it out of the garage and wash it in the driveway, ask the bitchy maids inside the house for sponges and soap water.” Takayuki bows his head once more, feeling nothing but self-loathing and bitter bile sick to his stomach. Maki interrupts the story again to say that he would’ve thought Takayuki to be the one wearing the maid uniforms.

After another bout of bickering between two grown Alpha adults finishes the story goes on.

Takayuki is hand-washing the vehicle, in his mind’s eye replaying instances of internal frustrations and lack of bravery for subjecting to the will of others and worse yet, having no other choice _but_ be exploited however they see fit. All of his pessimistic thoughts are expelled as would black clouds before the magnificence of the brilliant sun when he looks to the open bedroom window of the eighth floor. Minori watching him silently for the last few minutes. _Why is it that just seeing him in the day makes every bad thing go away?_

He checks around and impatiently waits for the sluggish servant crossing the garden between them before tentatively peeking again. Minori waves and smiles back this time. They negotiate a time for late night rendezvous with fingers and hand signs. He holds out one finger on one hand and a 0 sign on the other. Minori shakes off meeting at 10. This time one finger one hand and two fingers the other hand. He shakes his head, 12 is out too. From the ground Takayuki can hardly make out his sign for 11. He nods up to the eighth floor and finishes the speechless conversation with an OK sign.

Although he wouldn’t dare announce his love across the yard with so many servants bustling about to and fro and wealthy visitors coming and going there’s nothing to stop him from mouthing the faceless words, enunciating each dear syllable so sweetly and so clearly that not understanding what he’s saying would be among the most impossible of tasks. One breath for one word, sacrificing everything sacrificable just to say those three short but paramount jewels. “I. love. you.” The first of a lifetime of confessions. Minori’s universe is flipped off its axis, in his eyes a solar eclipse of the sun obscured by the moon from the beauty of those three confessions unvoiced.

His Second Brother pulls him away from reverie and window. “Shall I tell Father that you are mixing with the lower classes?” Whether Takayuki thinks the brother understood the bursting emotions playing in their eyes in that place where only two lovers’ souls are granted entry is veiled in his hardworking expression as he gets back to cleaning the car. Minori also slips back on his composed aristocratic visor, “You are to be given away to Masayoshi-sama in a short time’s notice. Fulfill your filial obligations to our Father by not defiling our blood.”

Minori closes the window and turns his back to Takayuki, “What unfortunate madness would compel me to consort with peasants? I exist for the sole purpose of serving our family.” Satisfied with the response he gives a loud ‘Hmph!’ and turns on his heels to leave the untruthful Omega to stand there alone and bite the insides of the left cheek that Takayuki had claimed as waves of self-loathing crash over him as well for painfully denying and smothering his feelings once more. _However, at least now they won’t doubt anything going on right under their noses._

Takayuki entreats again with the head butler for entry. He fabricates explanations conveniently ready at hand to battle against the torrents of what, why, who, when, and where. The half an hour of haggling at last pays off in his favor, much to the head butler’s irritation. With shrunken pale blue eyes watchful of every move he surely must know the scandalous truth behind why a mere chauffeur would ask permission to come inside the house to see one of the employers. He has been alive far longer than most, so this scenario must have played out once or twice in his lifelong career as a house butler, this scenario of love affair. But Takayuki allows himself fanciful deluge that his ruse effectively keeps truth from those pale blue scopes that know and see all.

 _From the gates to the house is like a 30 minute walk. The inside is like a gold palace, holy shit! How fucking rich are they? He said eighth floor, thirteenth door to the left. “Make haste. Do not linger inside the house. If anything shall go missing you are most culpable.” Go fuck yourself. If I wanted to steal something, don’t you think I would’ve done it by now?_ Minori’s servant opens the door when he knocks. She uses a polite tone, “The Young Master is in the middle of being dressed,” but in coded language means to say “Who even allowed this creature inside the manor?”

Minori inquires distractedly in front of the full length oval mirror, “Who seeks me?”

“I have come to return an item of yours I came across while cleaning the car earlier. ” The life returns to his hazel green eyes, and for a few seconds the deceitful mask slips before the servants, and he almost smiled from merely hearing Takayuki’s voice unique to his ear.

“You may enter.” The servants look perplexed beneath their own respective false faces. “That is all. Leave us alone.” They bow out and Takayuki bows in. Minori finally unleashes the big smile he’s been holding in. He stealthily checks the hall for anyone passing then shuts and locks the door. He giggles into his hand, “I doubt you can use this excuse a second time,” all of the aristocracy gone out of his voice is replaced by flirtatiousness.

Takayuki feels like a dot of a star inside a galaxy when he stands still in the center of the room. _Huge bookshelves of books. Books books books! Every subject you can think of. This is larger than any library I’ve ever seen, that’s for sure. Some are even in strange languages. Just goes to show you while I was fucking around in school he was publishing scientific journals._ He picks up the Astrophysics book with the starry sky cover page of constellations left open and flips through page after page of words he’s never even knew existed. “Do you read, Takayuki-san?”

“Mnmm… if it has pictures in it. I don’t even know what the title of this is.” Minori takes the book and tosses it away.

“I don’t like reading either.” _You don’t need to pity me._ “What do those things matter? They were written by lazy and uninteresting old men from hundreds of years ago who led lackluster lives and had nothing better to do with their time than sit around.” _Very accommodating, isn’t he._ Minori sits on his ginormous canopy bed, inviting the Alpha to do the same, but Takayuki knows his place is very well on the floor, so he also moves to sit across from him on the floor.

Takayuki nervously clears his throat, their knees are touching. Although the outfit is incomplete due to the servants being interrupted at work, he’s never seen anything more spectacular than Minori in this moment with thin criss-crossing strings of diamonds adorning his hair and regal sky blue short sleeves with black suspender shorts. But the stars on his face are hidden. This is not his angel. “You’re dressed to the nines. Going to see Masayoshi?”

“I suppose. It’s some fancy royal gala type of deal and Masayoshi-sama is going to be there. He and I will have to give the impression that we are head over heels in love while he leads me around by the arm and introduces me as his fiance to important wealthy people.” _I wasn’t called to drive him. Maybe Senpai’s driving tonight, that’s why he wanted the car washed._ “What I’m actually meant to be doing is persuading them to invest more stocks in Masayoshi Steel and at the same time inserting our family in there so that we reap the profits as well. In all honesty, I’m just going as an ambassador.” _Head over heels in love. Lead you around by the arm._ Takayuki’s left hand starts twitching imperceptibly with jealousy.

“Those… performances or whatever, do you still do them?” Minori looks to his feet for the answer, “Wait, don’t answer that. Minori, you’re really bad with eye contact up close, y’know.” Minori proves him wrong, subduing him with glistening eyes.

“Our performances in front of a public counsel are still ongoing because if his Mother and Father are too proud to admit it, I will. Masayoshi Junpei wouldn’t know where to stick it in even if I had blinking arrows pointing to it when I go into my heat. I’d just be glad if it’s not in my nose or ear.”

Takayuki shudders and has deadly convulsions behind his hat covering his face, dizzily intoxicated from glee. No spark or sliver of jealous fit of passion remains. There is no cause to get jealous over Masayoshi now that his true form as an inept fool is revealed. Takayuki instills calm after the tumultuous chortles. He comes closer to be bewitched by his eyes again, Minori looks down, his heart going wild. “This also doesn’t suit you,” He lifts his face by the chin and wipes off the makeup hiding his freckles with his shirt. “You don’t need this, you are much more beautiful natural. No matter what anyone else says.” Minori’s skin tingles from the honest Alpha’s sweet breath on his lips. He noses the vanilla scented locks of styled hair and breaths in its heady scent, then uprights his greedy body moving automatically. “Sorry, I forgot you don’t like being touched.” _I got carried away._

His hand is stopped in its retreat by shaky fingers, “I don’t mind if you’re the one touching me.” Takayuki apprehensively gets his hopes up again. _I hope that means the same as I’m thinking. Does he mean in a friendly way since I agreed to be his friend or in a romantic way? I should check myself before I get out of hand again._

They let the comfortable silence roll over them for some minutes before Takayuki speaks again, “It wasn’t entirely an excuse. You did actually lose this,” he shows him the solid gold ring. “I could’ve sold it for a lot but…”

“But?”

He brushes his fingers tenderly over Minori’s hand, “But I wanted the chance to put it on for you. If you’d let me, of course.” Minori holds his hand out and permits him to put the ring on. He holds the Alpha’s hand longer than need be even after his jewelry is returned.

* “Kyaa!! Papa-san and Daddy-san are so romantic! Kou-chan, can we try that too?”

“Anything for you, Kan-chan.”

Minori reciprocates his affection by pressing his pink lips to Takayuki’s forehead and succeeding in giving the chauffeur a pseudo heart attack. “I-I’m still waiting… for your answer.” To the love confession. Before another word can pass from either Minori’s door is banged on.

The grating shrill voice of his Mother beyond the portal, “I expect that your servants have finished dressing you at this time. Let us be on our way, we do not wish to keep the Masayoshi family waiting on us!” He knows it’s his mother because she never addresses him by name. He jumps to his feet and rushes to finish his preparations then scurries to fling open the door. Takayuki puts back on the docile facade, his cap is held under his armpit and he tips his head forward to her short person. Her expression shows little suspicion of what they were doing together alone locked in his room. “It is good that the chauffeur is here, come! We are running late.”

“My apologies, Ma'am, but I was not called to be your escort. Tonight’s driver should be-”

“It matters not who is driving! There are bags that require loading into the car. Hurry downstairs.” She snaps her fingers commandingly. _Fucking bitch._ He lowers his head again and falls to order loading the many heavy bags weighing a ton and a half each, waiting to be out of her presence to retch at her extremely strong perfume invading his lungs.

Again Minori sticks to his own side of the car looking bored to death out the window while his mother gabs court gossip to make up for the silence. Stealing peeks in the mirror, only if you look over the woman never seen without a pound of makeup with a magnifying glass can you see similarities between them, specifically in the small refined noses and pink cupid’s bow lips. Minori makes her pale in comparison without wearing even one drop of cosmetics. After exhausting her banal topics she turns on him. “I believe Masayoshi-sama requested you to conceal those abominable spots.”

“He did. But I thought it best to be my natural self. I refuse to change myself to suit Masayoshi Junpei's ideals. If he does not like me as I am, then that is his loss. His opinion does not matter to me in the slightest.”

“I see you have learned to advocate for yourself.”

“Even the most beautiful of roses have thorns.”

“I’m sure your Father will be glad to hear of your recent outbursts of rebellion. Your older brothers have already told him of your discourteous conduct. Being Masayoshi-sama’s fiance can only excuse undiplomatic demeanor for so long.”

“We’ll see about that. I have made it very clear from the beginning that I hold no interest nor attraction to Masayoshi Junpei. Therefore it should come as no surprise if in the very near future I display signs of disloyalty.” He catches Takayuki’s attentive steel grays in the mirror, “Say, for instance, an affair with a man of the lower classes.” His erupting joy causes him to accidentally slam the brakes and Minori’s mother bonks her head on the back of the driver’s seat.

He regains his bearings quickly, “We’re here, Madam, Young Master.” She has no time to digest his undertone as Takayuki quickly holds open the door for her to exit, her odorous perfume stifling the air as she passes. He plucks a diamond out of his styled hair as he gets out of the car. Minori pauses for a half second to hear Takayuki whisper, “11?” and to whisper back “Same place.”

**After the first kiss and failed one-day Rendezvous.**

Takayuki’s black eye has healed. His fractured ribs are also healed and his cast removed. He roams the streets day and night as a foot soldier for Daiseikai peddling drugs and guns. Minori spends his days almost setting fire to Yoshiyuki’s kitchen repeatedly and pointing to kitchen appliances to ask their name and purpose. Yoshiyuki answers, “This is a stove and you cook on it.”

“ _I_ cook on it? What about the 5-star chef?” _Ahaha...ha…?_ Yoshiyuki stares at him to see if he’s really joking about never having seen a stove before, let alone cooking on it. No hint of a joke from the Omega’s serious expression. _His meals have always been prepared and brought to him. I doubt he’s even stepped foot in a kitchen before. I seriously have my work cut out for me._ “Can we not pay someone else to cook for us?”

“One- both of you are dirt broke now. Two- I would highly prefer my future grandchildren grow up eating homemade meals filled with love, not processed food prepared by a stranger getting paid to feed them pretentious rich people bullshit. If you can’t cook for your children then you might as well also hire a nanny to raise them for you, ‘Young Master.’ There’s no one to cook, clean, or care for you anymore. You’re expected to do all of those things yourself and run your household. I have only one son and I made a dying promise to my mate to safeguard his happiness. I will only accept you when you show me you are capable of caring for his health and well-being.”

Minori quirks his lips upward in a determined smile, “You’re really strict, Yoshiyuki-san,” and rolls up his sleeves to give cooking another try, “But I’m strong-willed as you said. Our personalities complement well.”  His cold nights are spent alone in their rundown three-story single bare bulb apartment using the sorry excuse for a blanket to keep warm.

Tonight Takayuki is home but he’s no better than the patched up useless blanket. His ashtray lay by his side polluting gray smoke around the tiny square cell from the many unextinguished stubs of smoked cigarettes. One dying stick of tobacco is held between his lips and another is tapped on the carton twice and lit to replace the shrinking one. The definition of a chain smoker. Minori plops down beside him, “Practice moderation, smoking that much will kill you.” He confiscates the carton.

“Can you not touch my shit.” The harsh glare the Alpha sends him doesn’t make him waver, Takayuki takes his ashtray and heads to the door, already lighting another even though he’s just started on the new one, “What’s a little smoking going to hurt? There ain’t anything in this world that won’t kill me,” he fires back with scorn. Minori swats the gray-white smoke out of his dirty face and oily hair. _He’s in one of those prickly moods again. I’m so tired of this._

“It’s the middle of the night. Where are you going now?”

“Somewhere more interesting where I won’t get nagged to death.” Minori relents, the carton is returned and so is the moody Alpha. He gets ready for bed- the hard floor close to the right wall and Takayuki to the left- with resignation but the lights go out. Neither are taken by surprise by the sudden darkness come over them. _Looks like our electricity is cut._

The sounds of the young couple next door making love penetrate through their paper-thin walls, the previously privileged young master covers his ears. _They’re really going at it. It’s almost every night._ Takayuki makes a blind grab for him in the dark and roughly strips him in effort to drown out their noises with competing moans of their own. “Stop! You’re hurting me.”

“Stop being such a prude. If you always never want to do it, maybe I’ll find someone who does,” the insensate Alpha delivers coldly. Minori stops fighting him off and lays still as dead, a tired man with no more fight left in him.

He says with no emotion, “I haven’t taken my suppressants this month and my heat is very close.” The dark hides his soundless crying. _Why is he so different now from the man I fell in love with? If I had known he would’ve changed this much, I would’ve never left my home. Nothing, now I really have nothing._

*"Boss, keep it PG. There are children here.” _Why don’t you shut up, Maki. I wasn’t going to go into graphic detail about the first time we had sex._

He says with breath made heavy from arousal, “It’ll be fine,” and continues consummating their bonding in the least romantic manner possible consisting of no gentle foreplay or preparation, softly whispered love-perfumed words, tender caresses, or loving kisses. Just base sex.

*"I’ve always regretted being such a huge jerk to him back then. If I could take that one moment and do it differently, I would be so much more considerate. A few weeks later he had symptoms of morning sickness but he was too scared to tell me and I was rarely home anyways. When we were actually together I either ignored him or flat-out disrespected him or we were arguing.”

Kouji shakes his head in utter disbelief, “You disrespected Daddy? But you always say a man should treat his mate with the utmost respect and love them more than anything.”

“Yes, that is absolutely true, a man who doesn’t know how to love his mate is not a man at all. At that time, I was very wrong and hurt him a lot of times. I didn’t even realize that he cried alone many times in the middle of the night. I was being no better than his insensitive family who always said such hurtful things to him. I was just feeling so powerless and ashamed of myself because of how our living conditions were; I didn’t want Daddy to live a life like that. So when he finally told me he was pregnant with you, soldier boy,” Kouji returns his wide smile, “I changed my act and strapped myself down. ‘I want to be the best man I can for my child,’ that’s what I promised myself.”

“That’s when you became a really cool romantic, Papa-san?” Takayuki nods. “Kou-chan, you should become like your Papa. When we’re married one day I want us to be super lovey-dovey like your parents.” Kouji laughs nervously. _I don’t think I can beat Papa in being romantic… He’s like the King of Romance._

“Ahaha… Of course. Anything for you, Kan-chan.”

Takayuki chuckles at his son already tamed by Kanata. “For most of the pregnancy we were moving around from cheap motels to internet cafes and getting clean at bathhouses. It was really hard on him. There wasn’t enough for both of us to eat, so I gave him my portion and lied about eating out. He sacrificed a lot to be with me and I never want to make him regret choosing me.”

After deciding to apply himself, ambitious Takayuki does everything within his power to get noticed by the merciless aging boss. In the bottom of the lowest ranks of the organization’s hierarchy he barely sees the boss at all to begin with, so before getting noticed by him he first has to get noticed by those ranked higher than himself. He steadily climbs the ladder til his face becomes familiar to the traditional head but is still required to prove himself in many trials.

For this night he is dragged around by the demented elderly man and made to drink double his weight in alcohol but at least it earned him exclusive attention. Now he’s starting to stand out, every part of him naturally built for leadership, and there are many that don’t approve of it. He sees him off with his vision blurry as the heavyset head gets into his personal bulletproof black car with head bowed respectfully and booming his departing greetings loudest among the select other power hungry men seeking the  power seat once the old drunkard retires any day now. “Please return home safely.” He lifts his head as the tires drive over gravel road. “If that’s all, I am also heading home. Please excuse me,” he says to his superiors.

A green bottle smashes over his head out of nowhere. Takayuki’s vision goes black for a few seconds and blood spurts freely from where the glass shattered on skull. His competitors look down on him grovelling on the floor and snicker but the only thought he can formulate is, _Everyone wants that position and they’re willing to play dirty for it._ “Attack me with whatever you want. In the end I’ll be the one sitting in that old bastard’s chair.” His right hand twitches uncontrollably.

He stumbles into the moldy rented room of their temporary motel in the dead of night and takes off his rags. He runs to hug the toilet for dear life while his stomach lining corrodes from the strong acid of an alcoholic river being excruciatingly drained. Minori slips on his slippers and robe toward the sounds of violent vomiting and hacked dry heaves. _Drinking every night of the week. My liver’s going to fucking collapse if I keep this up. All of them are motherfuckers! He said he might consider me his successor. When the hell is that damn coot going to retire for fuck’s sake?!_

“Your color looks so bad! And your head is bleeding!!"

"Just a little disagreement, don't worry about it."

He does worry about it, "You don’t have to overtax your body like this. I can find work.” Minori’s cold hand rubs soothing circles on his feverishly hot back.

“Even if you can find good work, most of those top-class corporations openly discriminate against Omegas. I’m not exposing you to those dangers.” Minori leaves the bottle of water on the closed lid of the toilet while it flushes and leaves to get the first aid kit to dress the head wound. Takayuki levers himself from the floor and sits on the edge of the bathtub, _I really want to see my little boy._ Minori’s hands steadily wrap the pale white bandages around the visually contrasting black hair, the last loop is left incomplete, broken by Kouji’s cry. Takayuki finishes the rest himself and showers the strong scent of booze away.

Minori is bouncing the ten month old life in his arms on the filthy stained lumpy mattress on the ground. He takes the fitful baby from him and tries to stop the cries by putting the tiny being on his chest so that they can converse as old friends. Kouji giggles and smiles for him. “One day I’ll have a lot of men bowing _their_ heads to me. No one’s going to look down on me for being a high school dropout or take advantage of me or call me an imbecile. We’re not going to be living hand to mouth. I’ll make so much money and spoil both of you rotten, you won’t have to worry about a thing. But life is not all about money. Life is love. They’ve never seen someone as ambitious as me! The less they take me seriously, the more of a deadly threat I am, right Kou?” The babe has been lulled back to sleep by the soothing rise and fall pattern of his chest. “Honestly, the things I do for love. Just don’t become a man like me.”

Minori rolls over to also lay on his wide chest, “It would be a great blessing if he grew up to become a man like you.” He gazes into the affectionate steel gray orbs and travels kisses from his eyes to his lips. “One day he’s going to be moved to tears when you tell him the story of how you built your kingdom.”

Takayuki puts their lightly breathing child between them to form a protective cocoon around him. “Only because I have you.” His lips find Minori anticipating ones in a long passionate smooch.

*"Papa, Koni crying.” Seiji points out.

“I’m not crying,” he sniffles and wipes away the manly tears, “Big brothers don’t cry!” _You’re definitely crying. Just like Nori._ Kanata pats his head and wipes his wet green eyes for him with his white handkerchief printed with a gold letter K in the center.

The merciless old man rarely seen at the office is present today, and the reason being an old woman bent by age and pride. Her posture is straighter than one might think for an elderly woman in her seventies but the way she carries herself imposes upon you the impression that she used to be a strong independent woman in her youth, one that would never have been forced to kneel or subjected to crude insults by hooligans. Takayuki is standing to the rightmost behind the boss’ chair taking mental notes on how a leader might deal with delinquency.

Two men hold her as though to be crucified while the boss smokes his pungent Cuban cigar, “I got called down here to deal with this shit? What fucking dumbass is in charge of collections for her district? One year! You haven’t paid your owed amount or even the interest in one year and you tried to flee on top of it all!?” The young gangsters drop their verbal abuses and settle into becoming physically violent against an old woman already with one foot in the grave. _That’s going too far!_ “This here is a business we’re running! If we took it easy with everyone, we’d never make any money.”

Takayuki bravely steps in and shields her as the blows get harder on her brittle bones, their eyes turn on him as the enemy, “Hitting the elderly! Is that how we conduct business? Imagine if she were your grandma, would you still be able to do the same? If she says she’ll pay by next month, then she’ll pay!”

His competitors are internally celebrating that the boss’ favorite lapdog is messing up his chances by being too sentimental and naive, “She tried to run away. Why should we trust her to not do it again?” the boss says as he huffs a cloud of pungent smoke and gleaming eyes at Takayuki, perhaps interested in his confidence or mocking him his stupidity. “We need some sort of guarantee. Just your word alone is not worth losing hundreds of thousands.”

“I’ll do it… if she doesn’t return all the money by the first of next month, I’ll take over her debt.” _You’re practically in the same boat as her,_ they collectively think with humor but the serious expression crossing his face silences any jolly feelings, instead of wanting to ridicule they believe him. Not in whether they actually trust his assertive vouch for her responsible character, but in the convincing way he sounds so absolute with every word he speaks, “Transfer her debt to me.” Either way he’ll be reimbursed, so the boss has no complaints.

One month has passed and the same thoughts as following that incident have been passing through his mind non-stop, _Why did I have to be so stupid? Who’s to say she won’t try to run away again? I majorly fucked up! I should have controlled my big ego, I barely have enough to feed my own family._ The young-ins in the break room with him are discussing the unequal distribution of wealth, the boss gets fat while his subordinates work themselves to the bone and yet still starve to death. The call from the front rooms come, “Katsumi, get out here. Someone’s looking for you.” _Who the hell would be looking for me? I'm not in the mood for whatever dumb shit.  
_

She stumbles to him, sacredly groping the air in her path to be held to his chest, Takayuki has no words to express his actual surprise that she did not skip town like he assumed she would’ve. For as sure and assertive he outwardly appeared one month ago, internally he was pessimistic and full of negative self-doubt. “Katsumi Takayuki! You believed in me, a stranger, even though you had no reason to trust in me. My daughter died of illness last year, she was the one who worked hard to repay the debts my second husband left us. I’m an old woman, I can’t work and I couldn’t handle the grief, so I wanted an escape. You were the only one who believed in me. I didn’t want to let you down. You have also lost someone, I can tell.” She clasps Takayuki’s large hands with frail, cold hands wrinkled like the map of her life, “You’re different from all the rest. May the gods bless you with their favor.” She smiles a caring mother's smile.

Takayuki doesn’t open the overstuffed duffel bag she left at his feet, he merely weighs it in his hands, knowing better than to ask how someone as poor as her managed to collect the entire amount plus interest in such a short time frame. “Thank you very much!” He respectfully bows every bit of the 90 degrees and means it from the bottom of his heart until she is long out of sight. His eyes get teary from emotion.

The next day he is summoned to the main headquarters and sat down in front of the boss wearing an indecipherable mask. He puffs out his odorous Cuban cigar and leans forward, “That was an amazing feat, your intuitive prowess, I mean. You have potential, yes, but what I’m really impressed with is your fierce drive.” _Am I being praised?_ A man slightly older than Takayuki comes in with blood on his gun and even more blood on his clothes. “I was waiting for you. I wasn't expecting the hit to take a long time.” Takayuki pushes down the nausea and watches with disapproving eyes as he cleans his sinfully red hands and reaper’s gun with a black handkerchief. “Katsumi, do you know Gotou here?”

“I work in the branch group so I’ve only seen him once or twice.”

“Gotou here is my jack of all trades. An accountant, secretary, advisor, assassin. Whatever you want him to be.” _That’s nice and all but why the hell was I called here?_ Gotou bows forward with no apparent emotion of friendliness. “He used to be a copper but accidentally shot an innocent victim instead of the target, you see, so he’s on our side now. But we can more than make use of his police training to find loopholes in the law. He's the most useful man to have by your side. Him and my Blood Dragons.” _Would he just get to the point already for fuck’s sake!_ “What I’m trying to say is that this is my last month. I’m transferring you to the main group’s headquarters office. After all, you’ll want to get to know Gotou before you take over.” The boss smirks triumphantly and Gotou smiles and bows again with more a humane welcoming feeling. Takayuki is still processing the impactful last sentence.

_Huh?_

At this time Minori is packing their belongings into their two suitcases now that they’ve run out of money again and have to relocate. Four pairs of dirty baby onesies, three pairs of worn-out shirts and trousers for Takayuki, and five overused pairs of Seiji’s kimonos donated to him from Yoshiyuki, one worthless quilt only large enough for the infant. No colorful toys or stuffed animals. He’s just finished packing Takayuki’s suitcase when a quiet chirp nips at his ears. Where did it come from? From outside the filthy window pane, the room upstairs, or the motel owner living downstairs? The prattle comes again, “Yu-ki.” _Who is Yuki?_ “Yu-ki.” Minori turns to where the name is being called, right next to him from his infant son taking one unsteady step and then plopping down on his diapered bottom. _Yuki? Yuki… Oh my god, he’s walking!!_

Takayuki slams open the door, searching in the grimy bathroom first then in the grimier sooty kitchen, breathing hard and unable to contain himself. “Nori, where are you?!” _He’s here! I have to tell him!_

“Takayuki-san! Kou-chan just said his first words!!”

Their hard heads bonk together as Takayuki hastily runs into the room to tell him that he’s just been promoted as the young new promising leader of Daiseikai and Minori running out to tell him their son’s first words were his father’s name. After excitedly talking over each other nine times more Takayuki lets him go first once their euphoric laughter passes. “He took a step and said your name! Yuki. Taka-yuki,” Minori picks up the giggling baby and puts him to Takayuki’s face, “Come on, say it again for papa, Kou-chan. Say Yuki~ Say Yuki, baby~”

Both he and the child are suddenly squeezed tightly in Takayuki’s body trembling from intense elation, from blessed fortune, from unconditional love. _He’s crying…_ Minori strokes his immensely grateful bandaged head wetting his shoulder. Kouji squirms between them and babbles nonsense. “You’re the only person who’s never given up on me…”

*Yuji, Seiji, and Kanata join Kouji’s parade of tears and loud nose blowing. Even Maki, so overtaken by emotion, says nothing impolite to ruin the beautiful moment. Minori stirs a bit from the trumpets of noses being blown, Takayuki reminds them to keep quiet, and his mate clings tighter, however he instinctively jolts awake, ripped from sleep with fright by the many crying children screaming his name. His Omegan nature worries that someone needs to be fed, have their diaper changed, got hurt, or worse. “Huh? W-what? What happened?!”

Takayuki rests his drowsy head back down and pets his hair down, speaking with an amused tone, “I was telling them a story.” _I fall asleep for a couple hours and things get out of hand. What story, exactly, were you telling that all of them are crying?_ He shushes the crying kids plus one sniffling shady adult hiding behind his sunglasses, “You can go back to sleep,” he gives Minori’s puckered lips a long smooch, the Omega slumps and holds out his arms drowsily after they break the kiss.

“Carry me to bed.” His mate does as commanded, Kanata watches their retreating forms mesmerized and peeks to the freckled boy resting his head on his lap to imitate the romantic action by nudging him with his knee. _Ne, ne, Kou-chan, let’s try that too._ Kouji’s breathing rises and falls at an even set rhythm to notify that after crying his share of “manly” tears he also needs to be carried to his bed by his papa. Kanata pats his head with light happy emotions bubbling inside, _He looks cute so I’ll let him off this time._


	2. Part 1: Here Never, Gone Forever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (^=◕ᴥ◕=^) (=^･ｪ･^=)
> 
> Yoyoyo! How's everyone doing?

* * *

Kouji is on his tablet as he walks with newly made friends and drowns out their crass assumptions with something more respectful and enthralling. “His arm hair is blonde, his leg hair is blonde, his eyelashes are blonde. I mean, it only makes sense his pubes would be blonde too, right?” _How boring. Does something like that really matter? Isn’t that him ahead of us?_ He lazily puts his tablet in his bag and starts jogging to catch up to the boy with emerald green stud earrings on both ears and platinum blonde hair dazzling like millions of jewels under the summer sun’s glisten, leisurely strolling far ahead of the group of 13 year old boys, gracefully untouched by their distasteful fascination in the color of his pubic hair.

Kanata buckles a little under Kouji’s sudden weight on his back. He smiles as Kouji comes closer to press their lips together in their daily shared kiss- one in the morning in front of the school gates and one after school walking home together, just like a married couple as everyone around them loves to teasingly point out. “I knew I spotted someone ugly.” The Omega digs his sharp elbows into the bony body frame.

“Who are you calling ugly?! You should be way past the age to be picking on your crush just to get his attention.” Kouji stops cold in his tracks and wears a bewildered expression and taunting smile.

He gets all up in Kanata’s irritated face, “Crush? Who said I have a crush on you?” Kanata pushes him away and keeps him at arm’s length, “Why would I want to be stuck with an ugly like you when I could be with, say,… him?” He randomly points out the first student walking past them, the boy with pit stains through his white shirt sticking to him and digging his wedgie out of his crack at the same time mining for gold in his nose. _Great timing._

“Pfftt! You have good taste.” Aggravated at the backfire, Kouji snatches his bag and runs like the wind with it while Kanata screams, “Get back here!” though the order is disobeyed and the Omega made to give chase behind the freckled boy’s gleeful giggles. Their flirtation comes to an abrupt halt at the intersection of the two middle schools when they spot the dejected lowered head of honey blonde.

Kouji tackles his younger brother walking at a snail’s pace in the opposite direction home, “Yuu! Where are you going? Home is back over that way.” Yuji hides his face, Kanata corners him from the side and Kouji from the front trying to meet his eyes as the ten year old turns his whole body. The older brother grabs him by the shoulders, Yuji makes eye contact with the floor only. “Yuu, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” he says with an unconvincing tone, “I was just going to Jii-san’s.” Fed up with the evasiveness, Kouji pulls his head up. Kanata gasps and immediately reaches in his bag for a handkerchief. The reason he wouldn’t show his face lies in the fact that he looks roughed up and has tiny lines of bleeding scratches across his forehead that look as if he was pushed onto hard stone. Kouji’s eyes start burning with hot fire through his explanatory lie, “I fell when we were playing outside. It’s really not as bad as it looks…” Kanata dabs at the dirt and blood in the scratches. _Poor Yuu-chan, this looks painful. Who would want to pick on someone so cute?_ Kouji clenches his hands into wrecking balls, intimidating his brother until Kanata nonverbally asks him to calm down. “Kou-nii, please don’t tell Daddy. I don’t want him to worry.”

Kouji unclenches his fists and smiles supportively, “I won’t tell… if you tell me their names.” Kanata whips his head to the sadistic grin combined with threatening knuckle cracking. _That’s the worst case scenario!_  “I’m just gonna go talk to them. Can’t just let them get away with this scot-free, now can we.”

“Kou-chan, don’t do something stupid.” _Why do you look so worried, Kan-chan? Of course I’m not going to do something stupid. All I’m going to do is..._

Kouji is in the schoolyard of Yuji’s school with a circle of middle schoolers yelling “Fight, fight, fight!” around him and the bigger mean boys picking on his younger brother. He pulls out his heroic smile while strapping on Yoshiyuki’s old well-maintained boxing gloves, “I am proud grandson of Katsumi Yoshiyuki and first son to Katsumi Takayuki.” They stand unimpressed with his introduction. “I have come to deliver justice with these sacred gloves that my grandfather used to beat the snot out of the former champion.” _I got a bad feeling about this, Kou-nii._ He finishes putting on the gloves and assumes guarded stance, “Now I’m gonna use it to beat you snotless. I’ll teach you a lesson for picking on Yuu. All of you can come at once!” _Should I stop him? Oh no, I forgot...!_

Five minutes later, Yuji grunts with effort to pull his unconscious older brother face-down out of the garbage. Shaking him to make him come to proves useless, so he trickles water from the drinking fountain cupped in his hands over his eyelids. _I forgot that Kou-nii can’t fight!_ Kouji stirs awake with groggy memories that leave off from the point of the cool come at me statement and the five minutes of assaulting pain that instantly followed. “Did I win…?” _Uhh. I don’t know how to tell you this, but…_ Yuji begins to awkwardly look away, not because it was the punches that done him in but the fact that it was he himself. _You actually knocked yourself out clean with an uppercut to the chin._ Mistaking the lack of an answer for a positive, his older brother rejoices. “It all went as I planned! See, you can always rely on your good old big brother here to protect you.”

“You planned for them to beat you up until they got bored and then to K.O yourself into the trash when you tried to fight back? Why didn’t you at least recycle yourself?” Kouji smacks him upside the head. _Don’t you get smart with me._ Yuji kisses his swollen cheek, “But still, thanks, Kou-nii.” _Yeah._ The Alpha collects himself from the ground and coughs, Yuji trails close behind him like a lost puppy, walking in his steps stuck around his torso like cheesily grinning glue, “Kou-nii.” He waits for him to turn back, “I love you.” Kouji tugs him tight to his side and wraps his arm around his brother’s neck as reply. Yuji’s cheesy grin becomes cheesier.

Minori is by no means grinning or feeling the cheese when they show up home, one brother smelling like a sewer and the other giving himself away by avoiding any and all eye contact. “Now we’re starting fights in school? If we don’t like someone, why don’t we beat them up, right?” he harangues with arms crossed and glares at one particularly smelly young teen.

Yuji stands up for his brother after he finishes coughing again, “But Daddy, Kou-nii was just defending me!”

“Whether it was to defend or to hurt, violence is violence! How far do you think pummeling assholes who pick on us is going to get us? Now hand all of them over, your phone, laptop, tablet,” the electronic devices come to his hand without fuss or sassy talk-back. Takayuki and Seiji were sitting on the floor with the older teaching the latter reading and writing lessons in foreign languages, but took a break in their lesson because of the loud chastising. “I want the power cords for the computer and TV in your room too.Now  march on up there and reflect on your actions.” Yuji looks pleadingly for his father to intervene in the harsh and undeserved punishment.

Takayuki sighs and finds seat on the edge of the pouting teen’s bed. Kouji is under the comforter as Takayuki simply stares at him without any words, the boy trying to glean whether what comes next is additional punishment. Takayuki rubs his feet comfortingly to convey he’s not in more trouble than he’s already in, “I agree that it was a bit much to onesidedly blame you since there are always two parties involved in a fight. But he’re right, violence is never the answer. Still, you didn’t run away. Did you finish it?” The teen nods with resolute passionate emotions flaring behind his green eyes. Takayuki reciprocates with a proud grin. “Good. You’re a Katsumi Alpha, that’s what we were born to do. We protect our own.” The teen coughs again, Takayuki pats his head and ruffles his hair, “For that I’m proud of you.”

His heart explodes with joy to hear his act of courage has made his papa so proud of him. “I won.” He rubs his nose cockily, waiting for further praise to follow.

Takayuki chuckles lightheartedly but still takes away the electric cords that he came for, “I’ve been in enough fights to know there’s no way you won. No winner looks as _trashed_ as you.” _Wow, nice pun, I’m dying laughing. I might not have won but it was a very close fight. I’m pretty sure I landed a hit… on myself and got my gloves stolen. But I still looked cool doing it though, that’s all that matters._ Takayuki pinches his nose to block the odorous gaseous green smell coming from his son’s body on his way out the door, “By the way, please take a shower! For all of humanity’s sake.” Kouji snickers and drags himself to the bathroom to wash off the nauseating stench combination of dead cat and biochemical waste products.

The wet washcloth rolls over his feverish forehead, bringing cool relief from the uncomfortable heat settled into his skin over the night. _As usual, it’s happening at the same time every year._ Minori takes the dirty water from the towel bath and gets a change of pajamas for the young teen. The head of the house is not only confused to see his entire home full of mostly pre-adolescent girls and pubescent girls come to play nurse for the freckled boy with a summer cold but astonished that his little boy is beyond popular. Several dozen girls have to move to make way for him as he enters the house from work. They dote, fawn, and coo over the half-conscious boy. _It’s a proud feeling to have as a father, coming home to find your son has his own harem._ Takayuki hovers over his mate uselessly. “Darling, are all of them here just for our little old scrawny puppy?”

Minori chortles, “Yes, darling, they’re all here for our _puppies_ .” _All three are popular?_ “You didn’t hear the girls whispering about how cute Yuu-chin is or how adorable Sei-poo looks when he clings to his big brothers with his cute tiny baby hands.” _They said all that? That’s only because…_ Minori finishes his thought for him with an unappreciative scoff, “Don’t even say it runs in the Katsumi blood.” _It’s true though._

Meanwhile at this time, Seiji has his hands full trying to monopolize his beloved Yuu-nii from the girls by bossing the compliant older brother around for juice and snacks. However the more spoiled he acts the cuter he seems to get to the squealing female population aiming to snatch themselves at least one Katsumi brother before the day’s end. Their long manicured painted nails pinch his smooth cheeks like grandmothers. He sits in his lap, Yuji’s hands automatically stroke his straight hair, the girls do the same to the coiling unbrushed curls. “Yuu-nii is mine, he doesn’t need anyone else as long as he has me. No one’s gonna take away my Yuu-nii without going through me first! Isn’t that right, Yuu-nii?” _Kyaa!! He has a brother complex! He just gets more and more adorable._ Yuji nods in agreement to mostly appease his petulant possessiveness.

“Little Pea, you haven’t taken your bath yet, have you?” _He calls him Little Pea!_ “Your hair is all clumpy. Come on, I’ll take one with you now.” _Kyaa!!! The kind big bro type! They shower together!_ Seiji clings to his chest, being carried like a baby to the bathroom. Yuji sighs, knowing full well not to spoil him but totally unable to deny his cute baby brother anything he wants, Seiji pecks him on the lips. They leave behind a mountain of twitching nose bleeding corpses. _They kiss on the lips. It should be a sin to be that cute!_

Meanwhile in the living room filled to the capacity with predominantly girls and a handful of male school friends of the Katsumi boys, there is a serious ongoing conference. Point of debate: Who gets which brother? The immature boys blow their bubble gum and pull the girls’ hair, offering worthless little bits of insights here and there to their women’s gossip and boy talk, “Why would Kou-kun date you? Have you not seen Kanata? He talks about him all the time. You can’t even compete against him.”

The leader of the female brigade turns her nose up at the boy who has just berated them, “Even if one brother is off limits, there is still Yuu-kyun. We know what he likes, his blood type, and his interests. And he’s single! I’m going to become the daughter-in-law of this family, by hook or by crook!” Her determined balled fists punch air. Takayuki continues hovering over his mate all the way into the kitchen, doing nothing more than talking his ear off but getting soft  laughs and eye rolls out of him. The determined daughter-in-law prospect changes her tune, her mesmerized large sparkling brown eyes follow the man with wavy black curls. “Forget about those babies, look at that gorgeous hunk of a man!”

Her girlfriends hastily fix her neck straining at an inhumane angle to continue following Takayuki into the kitchen,“Mari-chan, what are you saying?! He’s their Papa, he already has a mate!” _I wouldn’t mind being his mistress!_  “Stop staring at him, he’s old enough to be your papa.”

“And that’s just what I want. I could use me a real daddy, if you catch my drift.” They catch her drift. Takayuki has been obsessively focused on the bright lit phone screen that keeps buzzing and beeping with text messages and chat updates. He wouldn’t notice the difference if Minori replaced the half peeled banana in his hand with an eel.

“Takayuki-san, can you hold these?” He mindlessly puts the phone down and holds whatever “these” are but absorbedly keeps his eyes on the vibrating phone. _What is he doing that’s so interesting? And why on my phone?_ Minori’s laughter breaks him out of the trance, all this time instead of an eel, he’s been holding two ripe cantaloupes to his chest that give the illusion of large breasts. “What are you looking at?” Takayuki shows him the screen, Minori squints his eyes in disbelief. “Really? 14 year old 8th grader named Saotome? You created a fake social media account and befriended our boys just to stalk them?” He tuts and wags his finger, “You’re going to be hated if you become so annoying, Papa Bear.”

“Stalking? No, no, no. We can’t control what they do outside of the house. But I can at least harmlessly _supervise_ and _survey_ their activities to make sure they’re not getting involved in anything bad. Kids go bad when you give them too much freedom, this way I have an idea of where they are, what they’re doing, and who with.” _That’s just your fancy way of saying stalking._ “I don’t do anything other than like pictures, though, and if I get caught you can take the fall.” _Why do I have to lie for you?_

He gets a large white pot out and puts it on the stove to start work on feeding an entire horde of starving middle schoolers, “He keeps getting these colds at the same time every year. Isn’t it strange? They don’t last long but maybe we should we take him to see a doctor?”

Takayuki swallows a piece of the savory, refreshing cantaloupe  cut into cubes for him. “Oh, these aren’t colds.” _If they’re not colds then what are they?_ “I guess you can say they’re like fake ruts. He has much stronger Alpha pheromones than most people, so his body’s just trying to adjust itself to handling it. The same thing happened to me when I was younger. They’ll pass soon.”

Minori softly chortles, “Hmm, so you’ve been Mr. Big Alpha Man since you were a boy?” He gives him a flirtatious sidelong glance, Takayuki grabs around his slender hips from the back while he continues cubing fruits for the boys’ guests, “Be careful, I’m holding a knife.” _So what?_ His Alpha pulls him to his lap with nips to his collarbone. _I’ll show you a big Alpha man._ He resists the advances weakly but his waist is pressed back against his Alpha’s front while his ears are assailed  from behind with teasing bites and sweet whispers. His squirming body is lewdly groped underneath the apron. Before the mood can change from teasing to overt sexual tension, Kanata clatters into a stool. Takayuki awkwardly clears his throat and lets his blushing mate up after sharing their embarrassed expressions. _See? This is why I keep saying you need to control yourself, Mr. Wandering Hands._ “Oh, you’re here, Kan-chan?” _I have to stop getting dragged at his pace too._

“Yes. Is there anything I can help with, Daddy-san?” _They’re sooo romantic! I wish my parents were like this._ Minori fixes his disheveled appearance quick and hands him the fruit bowl, asking him to take it over to the hungry groups of immature boys and determined girls.

Minori sits up the limp body and carefully pulls the sweat soaked shirt over his head of damp, clumped black hair. _I should have asked him what he meant by fake ruts. Who would he be responding to? How can he be reacting to an Omega’s pheromones so young?_ He runs his cold caring hands over the lovely expanse of freckled flesh. Kouji giggles deliriously from fever, “Kan-chan, kiss me more. Your lips feel good.” _Oh my, he thinks I’m Kan-chan._

Minori obliges and puts his cool lips to the burning chest and ticklish exposed tummy while the boy chuckles. “Kou-kun, it’s me.” _What is he doing acting like a baby?_ “I’ll go get Kan-chan.” Inseparable Yuji and Seiji lurk at the door wanting to come in to keep their sick brother company, and although they have just been warned repeatedly not to get in the bed if they don’t want to catch his sickness, they struggle with all their might to keep themselves on the edge of the bed. Yuji creeps closer until he is right under the covers with his half-conscious delirious big brother. _I just said don’t get on the bed._

“Kou-nii, do you want to hear a funny joke? What did the mathematician say when he finished his christmas dinner?” Kouji plays along, even though he’s already heard the same joke before, “Root -1/ root 64! You get it? i over 8.” Seiji snorts from innocently laughing too hard at the geeky joke and Kouji includes himself in the chuckles. All three are in the same bed, completely disregarding the warning and snuggled up. _How is that even a funny joke?! They’re spending too much time with Takayuki-san! He’s turning them into nerds!_ “Kou-nii, Papa said when you get better all of us are going to go to the beach for Peepaw’s death anniversary. Oh, and Jii-san said don’t worry about the gloves. Do you know what he said? He said even if you didn’t win you’re still the coolest and most awesomest grandson. He’s going to buy you whatever present you want when he comes over next time.” _Yuu-chan, stop talking his ear off._

A few minutes later, he has to peel away the jabbering brothers reluctant to be apart from their precious Kou-nii’s presence. The sick teen slips back into comfortable sleep. When he wakes up the first sound he takes in is the crinkling skin of a crispy apple being peeled with a paring knife. “Daddy, I’m hungry.” _Eh? He thinks I’m Daddy-san?_ He weakly sits up on his elbows half-conscious  only to break out with a lovesick simper at the blonde hair and blue eyes. “Kan-chan~” Kanata finishes cutting the apples into rabbit shapes and then scowls at the teen soaked in warm sweat again.

He pokes the bunny apples with the toothpick and feeds them to the mouth opened expecting to be hand fed. “You idiot! You should’ve listened to me, you know you’re not good at fighting. Why didn’t you call an adult to handle the situation?” Kouji finishes coughing again and peels off the ineffectively warm fever cooling pad. Kanata, adjusted to the Alpha’s multiple yearly illnesses, angrily slaps on a new one for him while he munches on the apple. _You can't hit a sick person, Kan-chan!_

“If I ran away, I would be a coward. I can’t have people saying Katsumi Takayuki’s son is a coward. So even if I lost my footing which allowed them to land a couple of hits on me by accident,” _That’s not what Yuu-chan’s been telling everyone. He said you never had a chance to begin with. They beat you up so fast you couldn’t see straight then knocked yourself out into the trash bin without the decency to preserve the planet._ “I still had to hold my ground. Because that’s what my Papa would’ve done.”

Kanata lets up on grilling him with a huge I give up sigh and feeds him more bunny apples. “You’re really obsessed with your Papa, Kou-chan.” _‘Cause I wanna be like just like him one day._ The Omega’s translucent finger curiously traces the shape of the freckled boy’s pouty pink lips. Kouji chews slower. Blood rushes faster through his veins, his vision fades and he blacks in and out of consciousness, his body paralyzes temporarily. Kanata is oblivious to the change, “It’s nice to be brave, but if you want to be like Papa-san, maybe I should invest in a lifetime supply of bandages. Or I could become a nurse… your personal nurse to take care of you when you get sick… or not! Hehehe, just kidding.”

“Kan-chan, come closer,” _Why?_ Kanata moves closer to the bed, not knowing what to expect. He is pulled down flat on top of the sick body with strong hands cupped on the back of his neck, the panting boy under him mustering an innate strength that one would not think capable of the muscleless figure, staring deep into the gorgeous jade green orbs with his deep sky blues and feeling his body react for the second time since boyhood, not knowing anything other than instinctively wanting to willingly accept the raven haired teen as a part of himself. _Ehh!! But this position… he wants to try an adult kiss?!_ Ruled by contagious fever and transferred fluttering butterflies, Kouji inches steadily closer, Kanata begins to part his ruby red lips to allow them to be to boldly stolen. At the last second, Kouji slumps back down on his pillow lethargically. Minori shouts from downstairs that Kanata’s mom is waiting outside to pick him up. Kanata blushes and breathes heavily as Kouji lay lifelessly asleep after draining and overexerting himself. As he scrambles to gather his things and dash out the door with burning face, he gives thought to why they mutually wanted to do such indecent things alone and where their mad desires of lust would have transported them if the Alpha teen had not passed out.

With fever gone down, Kouji wiggles out of his bed to the open bedroom of his parents where Minori is keeping away from the artistic masterpiece pretzel tangle of Yuji and Seiji’s limbs. He turns at the silent footfalls, the teen stares enviously at his younger brothers allowed to be coddled whenever they want, the privilege no longer reserved for him now in his teens. “Do you want to come in?”

He gives Minori his best look of disgust at even the suggestion of such a stupidly silly question. “Me? Hah! No thanks, I’m 13! Didn’t you get the memo? 13 year olds don’t get hugged to sleep anymore.” Minori strategically dismisses him by turning his back.

Kouji reluctantly shifts his weight anxiously from foot to foot and twiddles his thumbs. “Oh, is that so. Then bye.” Still no footsteps running for the door, the Omega giggles under his breath then turns back to him with arms spread open to take in the blushing boy. “Aren’t you leaving? I forgot that you’re a big boy now. I’ll stop treating you like a baby.” His socked feet timidly shift weight back and forth as he considers staying or leaving. “Make up your mind already.” Kouji hesitantly slides in next to him.

“It’s only because I’m sick,” he says with a meek pout and cozies up to his heartbeat, hearing and feeling and oddly knowing its dancing rhythm. The strong stable thumping pattern somehow ingrained in him- a part of his existence that links parent to child- jolts like low electric shots through his eardrums a part of his DNA. “I like this sound.”

“Probably because my heartbeat was the first sound you ever heard, and you listened to it for nine months inside me. I can also tell all of your heartbeats apart.” He whips back with an extremely skeptical expression, Minori smiles to challenge his disbelief with confidence, “It’s true. Even the way all three of you breath. My body remembers every little individual thing about my babies.” _That can’t be true! It’s impossible!_

He throws a flood of trivia questions to test the validity of his claim “Then what about me? When’s my birthday? What are my favorite foods? Do you know what I don’t like? Who do I like?” _Everything about you is obvious; your every emotion shows on your face and you wear your heart on your sleeve, anyone who’s known you for even an hour can answer these questions._ Minori scoffs and draws in the skinny body resting on his arm for a pillow.

“February 21st, you like bitter decaf coffee with milk, are head over heels for Kan-chan, hate sweet things, and have never eaten anything green in your life without being force fed.” _Wow, he really does know!_  He sighs with frustration remembering the never ending vegetable battles between them every dinner. “Maybe you’ll eat your vegetables if I sneak them into your coffee.” _Coffveg!? No way!_

Kouji’s abrupt laughter breaks off his desperate thought. “Just imagining it makes me wanna blow chunks! I’ll never drink coffee again if you do that!” He immediately clamps his hand over his mouth, just as shocked at Minori and totally not anticipating the impulsive reaction from himself, _Whoops I laughed too loud._ Minori kisses his forehead after chuckling quietly. His hands caress the stars of freckles dispersed all over his face unlike his own concentrated across his nose.

“You look just like Takayuki-san when you laugh like that,” he says affectionately. Kouji beams ear to ear with too much overflowing pride for his vessel to hold. “Ahaha, that’s your favorite compliment.” _He loves it when people tell him how much he looks like his papa._

He arrogantly frames his face with his thumbs and pointer fingers making 90 degree camera angles, “Because I love my face. I don’t mean to be a narcissist but this face is my pride. If they say I look like him, then they think I’m as handsome as him. I guess I should give my thanks to you for making me a beauty or maybe to Papa for having extremely good taste.” He smiles beautifully, “I don’t mean to call myself perfect, but...”

Minori retches at all the self-praising narcissistic vanity, “Not one bit humble, are you.” They laugh again, this time careful to not wake up the pea and pod jumbling of hands in hair and feet in mouth. Kouji starts to drift back into fever-induced sleep, Minori holds him back to his chest like when he was an infant to help him sleep.

“Promise you won’t tell anyone? I don’t want anyone to think I’m still a baby.” _You’ll always be a baby to me though._

“Yes, yes. This is only because you’re sick. I won’t tell anyone.” He gives Takayuki the thumbs up, the Alpha has been steadily recording everything without bursting out laughing from the moment the sick boy trudged into the bedroom to the moment he failed to notice his father’s presence in the storage closet clattering around for one of his old notebooks. The little fly who had gotten caught hook, line, and sinker in his sneaky parents’ conspiratorial venus fly trap. _Hahaha, we make good parents, wouldn’t you say, Nori? I’m gonna make hundreds of copies of this tape._

Katsumi beach day! Plus Maki who is technically a Katsumi after all these years and Kanata, most probably future Katsumi son-in-law! When Kanata brings up the risque fever incident, that is, once he had cooled down enough to brave the question, Kouji responds with bewilderment, remembering all the nerdy math jokes and fangirls but nothing more. Maki and Takayuki are “enjoying” each other’s company as the two good friends constantly at each other’s throats they are. Point of disagreement between the Alpha adults: Who gets to drive? “I’m not ready to die yet. Isn’t it against the law to let dinosaurs drive? Can you even drive anymore? I mean, literally, are you physically capable of driving without a stroke or seizure?” No surprise that the younger Alpha finds himself shoved out of the driver’s seat and onto the cold stones of the driveway. He’s just lucky he wasn’t run over, which one particular boss would be happy to do without a second thought any given day of the week. Maki circles around and slumps in the passenger seat.

Takayuki puts his hands at 9 and 3, putting Maki in his place and shutting him up for the next five seconds at very most, “I’ve been driving since you were still wearing diapers.”

“Obviously. You must have been alive when they first began using fossil fuel.” _Disrespectful brat!_ Takayuki starts the car then abruptly jams the brakes. Maki, without his seatbelt on, flies forward and smushes his faces against the windshield and nearly breaks the bones of his jaw on the glove compartment.

The older man smirks as he continues continuously driving then braking, “What, did you say something? Woof woof!” _I didn’t say anything, you tyrant!_  “Go faster? You got it.” Maki’s shades almost break when he slams his head hard against the window. “What was that? You’re having fun? Wanna go even faster?” Ignoring the nauseous green color of Maki’s face and his frazzled brain, Takayuki goes on terrorizing his senses by smashing him like an insect against the inner windshield every half-second. Yoshiyuki facepalms at their lack of maturity in the middle of bringing their bags out to the car.

“Takayuki! Stop messing about!” _How old do you think you are._ The grown son with a family of his own leans out the window and says whiningly, ‘But I didn’t start it! He called me a bad word!’ One glare from Yoshiyuki makes him behave like an honor student. _Why are they always together if they don’t like each other? Takayuki is easy to get fired up and Kurokawa loves getting those reactions out of him. They’re like fire and oil._ Nauseous Maki opts to get as far away from the insane man by helping load the bags, leaving one curly haired father in the car to mope and grumble about how unfair it is for the victim to be further victimized.

As soon as Yoshiyuki goes back inside, his son picks up on his  mischievous antics again. The horn honks at Minori loading bouncy colorful beach balls into the trunk. “Hey, baby. Need a ride home?” he says as sleazily and greasily as possible. Minori leans up on the window frame of the side of the car where Maki almost puked his brains out with an adventurous smile toward the roleplay. _I imagine that’s how Maki fails at picking guys up._ His mate replies coyly with, ‘Sorry, but I have a husband. He doesn’t like me talking to other guys, he’d kick your ass for hitting on me.’ _Damn right I would if someone tried it._ “Get in.” _How long has it been since we’ve been alone in a car together?_

They laugh together as the car drives off with no particular destination set in mind to enjoy some alone time together without worrying about the kids. Minori stares and marvels at the ease with which he handles the vehicle, overcome with emotions of love remembering the first time he  saw this honest and loving man on that night looking like Mr. Perfect obviously trying his level best not to burn holes through him. And if he finds it a major turnon that the guy only gets impossibly hotter by the years for some unknown reason, no one can blame him. He stops staring himself and tunes back in to Takayuki’s impressive showing off parade, “One handed driving, backhanded driving,” Minori squeals excitedly at all the cool effective tricks winning his heart, “and that’s not all! Look, no hands!” His mate squeals louder and fearfully attaches to his arm.

Car parked in an inconspicuous location, Takayuki laughs his head off at the honestly terrified reaction clenching the steering wheel with knuckles white. He mimics how Minori’s voice sounded when he was scared for his life at the no hands driving, “Don’t do that! We’re going to crash, Takayuki-san, pull over!” _It’s not funny, you were trying to get us killed._ His mate holds his heart for stabilization and fights off the urge to get out of the car and kiss the solid ground. “Minori,” his heart beats faster for another reason beside the adrenaline rush when he turns to Takayuki’s crooked attempt of a smile.

“W-What now? What are you doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m smiling at you.” _You call that smiling?_ Now it’s Minori’s turn to laugh him out of his pants. He puts his index fingers at the uneven corners of the Alpha’s lips and lifts them upward.

“I’m always telling you that’s not how a normal person smiles. It worries me that you think using half of your facial muscles constitutes a smile,” Minori turns his pouty lips up and down differentiating between a real smile and a smirk, Takayuki licks his lips and stares at the delicately sculpted features stirring up a consuming inferno in him. “How hard can it be to just do this? It looks a lot better when you let it happen naturally.” Tingling paralysis sets in as sincere gray eyes deeply gaze closer into his own hazels.

“I love you.” Minori softly mimes the words back to him, filled with just as much consuming love. Takayuki leans closer and kisses the anticipating pink lips. He takes it further and leans the passenger seat back, Minori hurriedly nips what he knows is coming in the bud. ‘We have to get back!’ _Once he starts it doesn’t just stop at one kiss._ Takayuki responds with an uncaring ‘Uh-huh’ and goes back to stripping and tasting his mate, his passionate arousal apparent even more so through the light beachwear. “Takayuki-san, we’re going to get in trouble!” _Yoshiyuki-san is so going to chew me out too for giving in to your whims._

“Ugh, I can’t stop now! I’m already turned on, just a little touching. You can time me for five minutes.” Minori initiates the kiss and shoves his hand inside the older man’s pants to relieve him of the prickling desire quick to build up and hard to extinguish. Their warmth transfers between their chests pressed close together, Takayuki slumps against him breathing on his neck with helpless whimpers of pleasure jolting through his blood being grasped  and stroked at an even rhythm in Minori’s hands. Five minutes turns into fifteen minutes and not only does Yoshiyuki ream the parents out for their endless irresponsible acts of inappropriateness, saying he gave Takayuki a mental beating worse than a physical one would be a fair understatement.

After two hours of delay, many long CD songs of children’s road trip sing-alongs,  “friendly” banter between “friends” they reach the endless world of glistening white topaz colored grains of sand and crisp clear blue-green waters stretching infinitely on the shore. Minori, still under fire from his father-in-law, helps set up the tent and lay out the blanket while the kids itch to run around and consequently come back less than half an hour later whining and cruelly sunburned. Set up complete and fragile thin skins thickly coated in sunscreen, they are given advice to not run so fast or they’re going to trip along with free reign to go join their father and Maki who are trying to drown each other in the ocean. Seiji nervously stops at the shoreline, scared to put even his feet in the water, so much unlike his namesake who must have been an aquatic vertebrate in one of his previous lives. Yuji sneaks up behind him and pushes him to get drenched into the spray. He jumps back out like a nimble feline with a terrified voice and genuinely teary eyes,  “Yuu-nii, I’m scared of water! The ocean wants to take me…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Can’t you hear it? It’s calling my name. I’m scared if I go in, it’ll never let me leave…” Yuji properly puts his floaties back on and takes his hand to introduce his stiff personage slowly to the harmless clear sparkling body of water, figuring that coming from someone who always finds ways out of his nightly baths, it’s no surprise that he doesn’t want to get clean in the natural water. _Uh-huh. What sort of craziness is this? Come on, Little Pea, you can’t expect me to believe any of this. I’ll show you that playing with water can be fun._

Kouji is helping Kanata put on his sunscreen. For such delicate and sensitive skin, it requires using two full bottles for front and back, even for simply stepping outside for a short period of time. “You keep asking me if I remember doing anything when I was sick but you won’t tell me what I’m supposed to remember. What did I do, Kan-chan?” Kanata huffs with annoyance to the side to watch Papa Bear and Soldier Boy #2 holding their Little Pea underwater to teach him the fundamentals for learning to swim.

Kouji’s hands massage the lotion in concentric circles on his slim back. At the beginning of the curve of sloped mounds they pause. An internal instinct instructs him to tear off the cherry red floral print swimming trunks, squeeze that perfectly formed bouncy ass- _Why do I keep thinking about things like this?!_ Lately, his mind seems to favor running in this ludacris direction. Take. Satisfy. Claim. Dominate. With a mind of its own, his hand lifts to smack the perky behind. He shakes the diverging thoughts out of his head, strangely beating the disobedient hand into the sand with the other.

Kanata flips around to let him do the front so they can quickly join in the summer fun. _What is he doing?_ The reaction stirring deep within the recuperated boy becomes much stronger. “If you don’t remember, then never mind!” The surreal softness of the pale upright nipples grazing over his fingers when he rubs the white cream vertically sends high voltage electricity to his brain and down his spinal cord, collecting pressure in a pit deep within, making butterflies dance in his stomach for a new reason. _You almost kiss me and then you completely forget!_ Kanata’s pouts become more pronounced at the dark haired boy’s constant spacing out.  

Kouji tries his goofy smile to placate him, Kanata mocks him by mirroring the idiotic grin back at him. The blonde lifts his legs for his thighs to have high spf sunscreen rubbed on. “It’s just like you to forget something important too!” Ivory and silky to the touch, the sensation dominates his body entirely. “You’re not even listening to me!” Kanata’s thigh is suddenly strongly tugged toward the youth, Kouji kisses his alabaster inner thigh on impulse right there for everyone to see if they weren’t busy with their own things. Kanata pushes his heart jumping freely out of his chest back in, “Kou-chan, what are you doing?! Don't scare me like that.”

He presses up on a body part beginning to stiffen. Kouji turns away quick with panic, absolute terror. He whispers into his peach colored swimming trunks, ‘Don’t tell me this is what they call an… erection!? Why does it have to be right now! Go down, go down, go down!’Kanata spins him around. “Why are you whispering to your shorts?” His hands cup around the erection slowly receding as he mentally recites the full value of pi instead of entertaining sexy thoughts. “Fine then! Stay here by yourself. I don’t like you anymore, Kou-chan, you weird nerdy geeky dorky Papa’s boy!” _Kan-chan, wait! At least choose only one adjective!_

Done with Maki and all his bullshit antics to get a rise out of him, Takayuki acts as the bigger man and for once walks away from a fight to be continued at a later time. Minori and Yoshiyuki look suspiciously close and in cahoots, whispering in low voices and shaking hands as if they’ve just finished making an illegal deal of some sort. They move apart and go eerily silent when he sits on the blanket next to them. _What the hell? Am I not supposed to know?_  “Since when are you two besties?” He looks between them, both shrug and fire back with ‘Since always.” _It feels like they’re plotting against me._ The Omega puts his sunglasses on and lays back flat on his comfy beach chair, asking to be woken from his nap in about 20 minutes. _Sure._ Yoshiyuki moves closer to the shoreline but away from the salty spray of the water.

He wistfully stares at the nostalgic vantage point eternally seeking the horizon and never uniting, the world of water where life never ends and never begins. _It was a day just like this when I gave my heart to the ocean. Will you still hear me if I call you, Sei?_ Takayuki begins to hum while building an architecture with some semblance to a sand castle with his feet saying nothing. Yoshiyuki reminisces for where along the lines he had fucked up so grandly to raise such an unusual child as this. His ponderings turn seriously worried when his idiot child takes water from the ocean for the construction of his sandcastle-ish architecture with cupped feet. _I know there’s nothing wrong with him mentally, but sometimes, just sometimes I really do wonder._ Yoshiyuki heartlessly demolishes his completed half-assed project just for the pleasure of it like a parent is supposed to do. “Come over here and talk to me. Like always, you dotes can’t keep your hands off each other. You made us wait 15 minutes out there for you. Couldn’t have chosen a better time?”

He says unabashedly as he scoots closer, “It’s not like we could’ve gotten that far in 15 minutes.” Yoshiyuki chuckles and shows him the blueprint confident smirk.

“Trust me, there’s a _lot_ you can do in 15 minutes.”

His body shudders in disgust. What _the fuck?_ “Care to explain how you came about that little piece of wisdom?!” _No one wants to think of their parents having sex, but how would he know some random shit like that unless he’s tested it out before?_ Yoshiyuki continues grinning as if reading his mind, and to make the effect worse he wiggles his eyebrows perversely.

“Do you want to know the story of how you were made?”  Takayuki scoots continents away from him quickly. _I feel sick. Please don’t. Take it with you to the grave._ Yoshiyuki wipes his tears and literally slaps his knee. “I’m just joshing.”

“What is joshing? Is that how they used to say joking in your time?” He only threateningly  lifts his palm and the son settles down with the jokes. “Anyway, it’s just like Gotou. When he gets into an argument with one of the stooges, he uses these super long winded outdated insults that none of us can understand, it takes forever for him to finish a comeback. It’s even more hilarious when he’s dead blasted.” _He talks too much when he’s with me._ While happily conversing he subconsciously drifts closer- too close for his father’s liking in the muggy summer heat.

Yoshiyuki roughly shoves him away by the face with harsh scolds to not sit so close,  “Look, stay over there! It’s too hot and you’re too old to be nuzzling all up in my bosom and shit, just talk over there.” He moves away but chatters with notably less enthusiasm than before. Staring deep behind the mask of an adult Yoshiyuki can stealthily peak at the old pouting and glum hair twisting habits  of childhood that followed after taking a scolding or  beating. The Seiji part of him that comes out through innocent features that make you feel like an evil monster of a human being for picking on him, you just can’t say no to him. Yoshiyuki sighs and gives in, “Only for a short while.” The younger Alpha perks up again and proceeds to talk his ear off about his subordinates. Yoshiyuki pulls his head in to rest on his shoulder, he lets himself smell the nostalgic black hair scented with the perfume of dried sea salt. _You only look like a man on the outside._ “Now go get me something to drink.”

Minori continues pretending to be asleep until the filial son is out of sight. Yoshiyuki pulls the sun hat down further on the Omega’s face with a conspiratorial grin. “There, I showed you his childish side, but you’re not supposed to know. Remember to give me all of them.” When a sneaky Katsumi discloses someone else’s secret, they finish the statement with you’re not supposed to know, as in you never heard it from me.

“Only if you’ll give me all of your home videos.” _Fufufu, he likes to sit close to his father. Total softie on the inside._ _The man all of us have trouble controlling listens to every word Yoshiyuki-san says. Gullible, just like Kou-kun; like father, like son._

The boys are playing blind tag, Kanata is “it.” They splash around with squeaky yells and squeals to escape capture, their small feet move swiftly in the water from Kanata’s outstretched exploring hands groping for someone to catch. Kanata catches hold of a wet smooth shoulder. He opens his eyes and reconnects the shoulder to its owner, “I caught you, Kou-chan!” Wet dews drip seductively off his blonde hair, the corners of his alluring red lips break into a small smile, “Kou-chan, you’re it.” Kouji’s intense eyes watch how they move as the sounds come from them. His inner voice speaks to him to lick them, kiss them, suck on them, bite them. His trunks tighten around his crotch. Kouji spins away from him again. _Not again! Go down, please go down!_  “Kou-chan! What is wrong with you today? If you don’t stop talking to your pants, then I’m not playing!” Kanata, not putting up with anymore pants whispering, stomps down a war path and leaves the agonized youth with legs twisted and embarrassed hands cupped around stiff crotch. _Kan-chan, wait up! I can’t move, it hurts and it’s not going down._

Takayuki, with his sharp eyes watches everything. Yoshiyuki relaxedly napping in the shady breeze  of the umbrella, Minori peacefully reading in his kimono sleeve tunic, and especially his little boy suffering the embarrassment of many torturous unexpected boners when he gets remotely close to his crush. He taps his mate on the knee with his eyes communicating _You might want to see this,_ “You don’t think our son is sexually active, do you?”

Minori peeks at Kouji hobbling to placate Kanata’s irritation, “Of course not. They’re still boys.” _Oh my, oh my!_

“Boys? When was the last time you took a long hard look at Kan-chan? Look at that body.” _What about it?_ “Does that look like a boy’s body to you?” _I guess not if it’s arousing sexual reactions from Kou-kun._ “I think it’s about time we give him the birds and the bees talk.” _As long as you let me do most of the talking and don’t involve puppets._ Maki’s argument yelling into his phone yards away in a spot unpopulated by children and towels and umbrellas goes on and on with much angry body language and hands thrown up in the air in resignation. Takayuki cups his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. What better time to make fun of the guy who’s always relentlessly tormenting him with rudeness than when he’s having a fight with his on/off lover. “Look at that failure! Hey, you failure, be careful what you say to Haru-kun if you want to stay out of the dog house! Maki! Look here, I’m glad your relationship is going well! When’s the wedding?!” Many bunched up veins appear out of his temples the farther his voice carries.

Minori closes his book and slips his arms around his damp shoulders, “Takayuki-san, stop blowing a gasket, I don’t want you getting an aneurysm. Think about your health, are you looking to get high blood pressure yelling your head off like a crazy man?” _Shut up, don’t treat me like I’m old!_ “Besides, Makin is having serious relationships problems. He hasn’t been too happy lately, please don’t pick on him.” _I’m the one being picked on. You should hear the things he says to me._ Minori pulls the man seated in the sand in front of his beach chair back with his arms still cradling him while resting his chin on the top of his head of black hair. He speaks with less humor, “Listen, some time ago, someone anonymously donated a large sum of money to my family.” Takayuki clenches his teeth and begins making another sand castle from wet sand with his feet. _Gotou, you bastard!_ “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, now would you.” _You weren’t supposed to tell him. He is so fired when I get back._

“Nope. Whoever it was must’ve had a big heart or something. I could never find it within myself to do that kind of charitable act. And why would they, whoever it was, give money to your evil family?” Minori squeezes tighter, “ I don’t even remember their faces. I doubt they remember mine either.” Minori looks at him closely from the side with a triumphant smirk.

“I only asked if you knew anything. I never said it was you specifically.” He defensively tries to backtrack and say that he was speaking generally since they were on the topic. _Just give it up, darling._ “You didn’t have to, but you did.” He ruffles the black hair affectionately, “We’ve been together for almost 14 years, but to me, it feels like we’ve been together our whole lives. I know I don’t tell you enough but I really do love you.” His mate moves up and tenderly takes his tantalizing lips sweet and slow. Minori lets him perform his ritualistic loving kisses starting first with the strawberry blonde locks and then all thirty one freckles. The blushing Omega puts his sapphire necklace to Takayuki’s lips.

Just then, the tides begin to roll in faster and an unannounced rapid wind stirs up the beach sand into a vortex cyclone. Takayuki is forced to herd up the family from the unpredictable change in weather. Yoshiyuki stands on the edge of the water, yelling out to the ocean, “Seiji! Sei! Come out!” Seiji is consciously hearing him perfectly well but unable to control his feet automatically pulling deeper and deeper into dangerous waters just as he had feared. Beach towels and uprooted umbrellas and play objects meant for the sunny day are blown to the west. Deceased Seiji’s necklace on Minori’s neck alone ominously blows in the opposite direction of east where Yoshiyuki is, causing the Omega to believe that perhaps he must be imagining something so supernatural. Yoshiyuki continues calling his grandson out of the water.

Yuji quickly grips his arms and pulls him along out of the water level swallowing the little boy up to his nose! “Little Pea, what the hell is wrong with you?! Are you trying to drown yourself?!! Come on, we’re going home!” Seiji is back in control of his body, coming back to himself to recognize how he is, where he is, but not the dormant force that attempted to summon him nearly at the cost of his life. And even now still summons him. _Yuu-nii, can’t you see? He wants me to come to him..._

… 

Not one peep. Although Takayuki bustles around getting ready dressed more spiffy than usual, their unblinking eyes drill holes through the stationary Minori, who finally grows tired of their gawking. “Am I so interesting?” Even Maki stands motionless staring at his new appearance, Minori runs his hand over his nape exposed to the air. The new haircut short in the back but kept long in the sides and front has them all floored. “Aren’t you over exaggerating? It doesn’t look that different.” _Can someone say something, please?_ “I asked Takayuki-san to do it for me. Doesn’t it look nice?” He arrogantly runs his fingers over the new hairstyle. “I hadn’t cut my hair in years. A change of pace every now and then feels nice.” _Although Takayuki-san did almost cry several times, saying it was a waste to cut such beautiful hair. It’ll eventually grow back. But I wanted to show the whole world that I belong to you._

They look at each other first and nod in agreement, “It looks really good.” Maki comes behind him to closely look at the bite mark, “It’s just we never really see your mark so clearly. It’s the deepest one I’ve ever seen. You must really be loved, Norin.” Minori blushes a bit as the younger man hugs him from behind trying to match up his teeth to the healed dental impressions. “How does an Alpha bite an Omega? Is it like this?” _Please don’t do that, Makin. It’ll get him really mad._

Left hand already starting to twitch, Takayuki grabs him by the scruff and tosses him outside like a dog who just peed the carpet,“Cut that out. Don’t you have any common sense? Why are you trying to bite my mate? Even if you’re not serious, you’re overstepping. Stay outside until I’m done, there’s no space for a dog who wants to eat from his master’s plate.” Maki gets the door slammed in his face. He continues getting dressed with pressed black slacks and ironed suit. Minori helps him choose which tie as Mr. No-fashion-sense-whatsoever seriously weighs a classy blue striped tie against a foolish red polka dotted one meant for a circus clown.

Yuji, the family’s developing sass machine, bites into his crunchy green pear, “You’re dressed to the tens and even your hair is straightened. Going to Heaven?”

He lifts his head up while Minori ties the blue tie on for him, responding with a brief, “Not yet. I’m going to earn money.”

“I bet that’s what you put in the job description part of your resume. Name: Katsumi Takayuki. Occupation: Earns money.”

His lips twitch at the corners into a full smile, “Don’t you get smart with me, sharpshooter. Who do you think brings home the bacon?”

Yuji dramatically crunches into his fruit, ‘I prefer beef.’ Seiji is the only one who laughs between the ping-pong of corny jokes, Kouji groans from the pain of their uncool similar senses of humor. Minori tightens the fabric up to his throat and double checks that he has everything, keys and wallet and passport. He pats down the clothes to get off any dust or lint and quickly polishes his shiny black dress shoes. _I’m already running late. Wearing stupid tight stuffy clothes is not my gig. I just want to get out of these already._ His hand protectively covers the bite on his mate’s nape while looking into his hazel green eyes, “I’m establishing a new business, so we’re going to meet with some prospective partners overseas. I wish it didn’t but it does require me to actually show my face. We don’t know how long it’s going to take to set the infrastructure, somewhere close to a month.” Yuji’s initial question is answered. The children line up according to height at perfect attention. Kouji is first, “You’re the man of the house while I’m out. What’s your job?”

He salutes and bellows loudly, “I protect, sir!”

“Don’t let in any strange persons, don’t make trouble for my darling, and listen to Nakayama’s instructions. Kommandant, I leave my home in your hands,” he taps him on the chest, “Make me proud, soldier boy.” The taller Alpha bends down to get a kiss on the cheek. Yuji is next. “Lieutenant, you will serve as backup. If there are any issues that require your assistance, you will intervene to quickly resolve and de-escalate the situation in a timely and efficient manner.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” Yuji gives him a sloppy peck on the other cheek.

“And you, Private!” He crushes the giggling youngest in a tight hug and kisses him all over, “What will I do without my Little Pea! I’m going to take you along, I can’t live without my honey for a month! Life would be too cruel.” Seiji turns blue. _Takayuki-san, enough with the melodrama, you’re already late._ “I want everyone on their best behaviors. And lastly, let’s try not to break anythin-” Something breaks upstairs before he finishes, “Let’s try not to break more than ten things.” They break their organized line to snicker at the perfect timing.

Seiji sloppily copies his older brothers’ salutes, “Yes, sire!” _Sire?_ He returns his papa's kisses with wet smooches all over his cheeks. Minori is last. They watch like hawks with camcorders for eyes, waiting to watch their parents kiss.

 _These little perverts._ Takayuki stretches his arms out for him to bury himself in his warmth, “Don’t miss me too much, darling.”

Minori grabs his face and puts a kiss smack dab on his lips, ignoring the teeth sucking plus comments of aw, boo, and do the other type of kiss. “I’ll try not to.” Minori clings hold to his back to whisper sweet words to his husband not meant for the ears of children. “Now go on,” he ushers him out the door. _I definitely don’t want to go now!_

Gotou starts the car and they drive toward the airport. Then they have to turn back to the house less than five minutes later because Takayuki forgot the most important thing of all: his sealed briefcase with all of the important documents. The kids finish getting ready for school. His briefcase and laptop bag are dangled deviously out of the kitchen doorway. _How does a businessman forget his documents?_ He reaches for them, Minori devilishly jerks him into the kitchen by his tie and has his way with him.

When he gets back in the car literally shining as bright as the morning summer sun, Gotou drives with professionalism a few miles then just has to say it, “Boss, your fly is down.” Takayuki zips it up, Maki shoots him the world’s most judgmental look. _When he went in his hair was straight and his clothes were perfectly neat. He looks like he had his bones jumped. But as long as he’s motivated and willing to actually do work, no complaints from me._

Minori is woken up in the middle of the night by his phone plugged into the wall charger, with their papa gone for who knows how long all the brothers, even the one who unconvincingly claims to be too old to be hugged to sleep, crowd on his bed to make up for the loved unavailable Alpha’s warmth. “Gotou, is this on? I pressed the green button, it’s on, right?” Takayuki says on the other side of the Facetime. _Yes, I can see you just fine._ Maki’s voice in the background, ‘Two fossils who’ve never seen technology before, isn’t this great. How hard can it be, touch the green button equals on, red buttons equals off.’ _They look like they’re having fun. What time do they have over there?_ Gotou checks the phone for him, coming so close to the camera he reveals all his nose hairs. “It’s because you stole my old phone and sold it, you rabid dog! Oh, and Gotou, can you punch him for me?”

 _Gotou, you bitch. You just wanted a chance to clobber me,_ are Maki’s exact thoughts while holding his livid purple cheek shaped to Gotou’s fist. Gotou shrugs, _Just doing my job. If he orders me to hit you, I gotta hit you, Maki-bro._ Maki curses under breath at the abusive older men. Takayuki, after wasting five minutes and ensuring that the Omega wouldn’t be falling back to sleep any time soon, finally realizes that the camera had been on this entire time, “Oh, na du?” _Hey, how ya doing?_

Minori crankily puts the phone to his side, “How does it look like I’m doing? You woke me up. What time do you have over there?”

“You were sleeping?” _Crap, never wake him up when he’s sleeping unless it’s for a damn good reason._ “I forgot that we’re not in the same timezone. We have morning here. Just waiting to board the next flight.” Minori brings the phone closer, not really irritated anymore. “It’s only been 12 hours, but I already have half a mind to buy a plane ticket back home. I really wanna come home, I should’ve let someone else go as my representative. I can’t last a month. I miss you and the kids.”

“Ahaha, you’re still whining.” He turns the camera to the huge tangled modern art collage of hands, feet, and heads where they shouldn’t be, “See? Your soldier boys miss you too, ‘we’re all gonna be Papa for you to keep you warm at night’ or so they said.” Takayuki gets all teary eyed, wanting to teleport through the screen back home without moment’s delay.

“I really wish they were awake so I could talk to them” He checks his watch, “Right now the time is 7:22 and I’m officially missing you.”

“You’re not the only one. I miss you annoying me and then there’s having to tell you to stop sleeping on the floor, let’s not forget those impossibly ugly sweats.” _Wow, okay. I’m never coming home now. You just insulted everything about me_. “All those little things about you I love. How you laugh too much at everything, your warmth when you hug me from behind, the sound of your sweet voice when you call me Nori like a forbidden secret.” The camera starts erratically shaking from Takayuki’s side.

Takayuki’s pleading voice as his hand covers the overwhelming emotions displayed by the camera, “Gotou, go buy me a ticket back home right now! I don’t give a damn about anything else. Please, I’m begging you! I’ll do all the work you want, just let me go home.” _Please tell me he’s not really crying!_ Minori bolts up, not actually expecting his words to elicit such emotion. “Please, Gotou~ You would understand if you had a family. Let me go~ Forget about me, I’m no good for you!~” _Sounds like he’s breaking up with Gotou-san._ What Gotou wouldn’t give to slap the unbearable stupidity out of him right now.

“Boss, we don’t got time for your fucking stupid nonsense! You’re going to make millions just for showing your ugly mug. If we let you go back now, you’re just gonna avoid doing any work for-fucking-ever! We have only one flight left and it’s time to board. Get your-” _Get my what?_ Maki changes his tone real quick when he realizes he’s addressing his leader as if he’s a child, “Please bring your humble self over to the boarding gates.” _He wanted to say get your motherfucking ass over here, didn’t he? Wait, he called me ugly!_

Minori props the phone on the nightstand, “Takayuki-san, just go get your work done. You’ll cause trouble for everyone if you say selfish things like that. We’ll still be here when you get back. Yoshiyuki-san already thinks I make you stupider than you already are, I don’t want your men thinking the same thing.” _My old man called me stupid to my darling? I feel like they get together to trash talk about me._ “I’m sorry to do this but, Katsumi Takayuki, don’t you dare come home until you complete everything that is asked of you to perfection. And don’t call us either, you need to be kept away from distractions. Ich liebe dich und gute Nacht.” _I love you and goodnight, my ass!_   _You said all those things to entice me and then you cut me out!?_

One month later, Takayuki is bombarded by a barrage of hugs, kisses, and Papa don’t ever leave agains. The brothers all get turns tossed haphazardly in the air and airplaned dangerously dangled by one leg. The lack of contact notwithstanding, the whole Katsumi family made it through one month of separation safe and sound for the most part. Minori indifferently waits his turn with legs crossed over haughtily leaning against the couch’s armrest, alert in mind and body. Takayuki glances at him with a meaningful smirk. 3, 2, 1. Both prey and predator break into a laughing sprint up the stairs in an all-out speedy chase!

Minori tries to close the bedroom door but Takayuki  jams his leg in before that, finding no other escape route, he hops on the bed as the eccentric man blocks his way. He chances breaking through the barricade of long outstretched arms but is snatched up, “Where do you think you’re going? You have some nerve putting me off for a month! Now you're being all cold, not even one hug for your darling who's come back?” He approaches with predator’s impending doom gait and insatiable carnivorous appetite to match causing Minori to press his back to the wall surrendering with excited thumping heartbeats. Minori coyly avoids the face too close, the same handsome visage filling his thoughts day in and day out, taking over his nightly dreams of romance, that very man returned to him in the flesh somehow not arrested yet for attempting to kill him from a heart attack on a daily basis. “Come on, take a good look at your husband.” Minori squeezes his eyes shut tighter. “Why don’t I take another business trip then since you obviously didn’t miss me as much as I did,” Takayuki’s baseless threat snaps open his eyelids.

His rare full smile comes before everything, puckered lips wait for Minori to initiate the sacred lip-locking. He wraps his hands around the taller man’s neck, ready to press their bodies together in a hot crime of passion. Takayuki pulls back and stands on his toes, teasing his shorter mate to reach for his lips basically as far away as a tempting fruit on high hanging branch. With 10 cm natural between them, Minori has to attempt to overcome 20 cm and leaping, sadly, is not getting anyway near that. _You can do better than that. If you want it, come get it._  Takayuki chuckles at his futile efforts, Minori gives up, settling for thudding his wrecking balls of flesh on the taunting Alpha’s chest. _That_ _tickles._ The harmless fists are locked in place.

His frustration is blown clear out of the water when he finds himself hoisted in the air in strong, safe arms supporting his back. His legs wrap around Takayuki’s back as the deadly intoxicating kiss deepens, no distinguishing between the role of giver and taker as both gulp from the poisoned chalice debilitatingly sweet antidote of a month’s worth of sickening loneliness and undelivered confessions. “Were you cold without me?” Unrestrained arousal laced with impatience slips off his words, “Were you lonely with no one to love your body?” Minori gets out one indecipherable syllable before again his entire being is utterly turned to putty in Takayuki’s hands, his knees go weak even though he’s not standing, and thankfully so, because if he were to be on his feet they would unreliably fail him. “I don’t know if I can hold out until later tonight, not being inside you right this minute is killing me!” The lustfully base growl in his ear sends electric shivers down his spinal cord.

Unable to speak with closed up throat, Minori physically communicates by suffocating him in embrace. He tightens his hold and prepares to crush their lips together once more, but the sounds of three nosy little boys piled on top of each other pushing and shoving ruin the moment. _Almost! They almost did it._ _If you guys could’ve just kept quiet, we could’ve watched them kiss!_ Kouji regretfully thinks as Minori is put down. “Yeah, that’s all you’re going to see~ What’s with the strange fascination in wanting to see your parents make out? Normally aren’t kids supposed to be all ew and gross when they see their parents kiss? And yet, here you awkward human beings always want to watch us.”

Seiji responds to Takayuki’s attack, “If we’re awkward, what does that make you, abnormal?! We only want to see because it doesn’t look gross when you do it.” _Takayuki-san, don’t egg him on._

“How so? Would you care to detail an essay-length explanation for me in Italian?” _Now you’ve done it. You know he’s going to take that as a challenge._

Seiji puffs out fired up steam from his red ears, “Sure, why not! You think I can’t?” Refusing a challenge, no matter how difficult or impossible, is not in his nature, and even less so a direct challenge from his Papa. _Little Pea, he wasn’t serious! The last time this happened you didn’t go to sleep for days just to prove you could finish that Calculus IV problem way beyond you._ Kouji has to talk him out of the idea as he races to his room to get his Italian-Japanese dictionary.

Takayuki cradles Minori’s warm chuckling figure from behind and rests his weary head on his shoulder  just as his mate adores, “I should call it off. I think he thinks I was serious.” _You think?_  Healed teeth impressions are kissed and suckled lightly so as to not ignite the fire again, Minori tilts his head to the side to grant him access to the side of his neck, “Tonight… I'm going to defile you head to toe. There will be no sleep for you,” he whispers thickly in his ears, leaving a chaste peck on his neck  contrary to the perverse words and then going to responsibly reel in his youngest intent on proving him wrong. Minori holds his heart alone in the middle of the room.

 _They’re all sleeping._ Takayuki locks the door, Minori flinches a bit waiting with bated breath for him to steal under the covers. He cups his freckled cheeks and lifts his face up with warm palms to really get a good look at the long reddish bangs reaching past his shoulders and the familiar features, especially those lovely stars in the night sky sealed under his flesh he first fell for. Warm fingertips kiss the galaxy of constellations dancing beneath his unique physiognomy. _He’s quiet tonight._ He crawls blazing hot palms under his Alpha’s bothersome shirt and over the muscular body covered in scars as well as rapidly hardening nipples. The obstructing article of clothing is discarded, he gets on top of him, leaning forward to reward his throbbing man to tweak his pink nipples while grinding on his rock hard penis. Takayuki has to restrain chuckles at the impatience, “Feeling aggressive tonight?” Minori torments him with his body, tracking his nails slowly over the bare hard chest as if sculpted from fine marble, driving him mad with desire and not sparing him time for ridicule.

The room is blinded in darkness. Takayuki exhales a sweet heated breath to his lips, placing  an iron grip on his slender hips, nearly bruising the tender flesh, and cups as much of the narrow sexy chest as can fit in his hands. Their harsh breaths come together on their lips before they smash together their lusting mouths and slippery wet tongues. “I don’t think I can do it gently...” Minori seals his tongue again, prompting him to be as rough as he wishes. The older man draws his lower lip between his teeth while hurriedly unzipping his pants’ zipper.

* * *

In the first year high school class of 14 year olds freshly graduated from middle school, Kanata takes a shy peek back at the freckled boy now wearing prescribed square thick-rimmed Clark Kent glasses adding another card to his mansion constructed out of cards literally using his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut tight on card edges to pick them up until his name is called to retrieve his test paper from the teacher. Kouji lays his cards down and cockily walks to the front of the class. “Oh my! I was so scared I had failed.” His action of fanning himself with a fan that has written on it in bold Kanji “I am the best!” betrays his mock surprise. “I did much better than I thought. I wasn’t expecting higher than 500. Look at this, will you.” He shows the rest of the class. _Yes, see how great I am._

The complaints and swears assault the teacher at once, “Wasn’t this out of 100? What sort of quack grading system did you use, Sensei?! He has a 1000! Is this some sort of new style favoritism? None of us even have higher than 75, he’s in an entirely different place value!!”

“He rewrote everything in Binary code and solved it, included an entire essay in French, and even made lesson plans for the rest of this year. And he still finished first!” _Sure all of that’s impressive but 1000!?_ Kanata peeks again as he goes back to constructing his mansion while the rest of the class voices opposition to the unfair grade. Kouji catches him looking.

They both look away simultaneously with rosy pink blooming on their cheeks. They wait a second before shyly locking eyes again then simpering down at their desks. When Kanata peeks back again, Kouji blows kisses then hides behind his textbook, playing peek-a-book, coming out from the sides with different funny faces. Kissy face, constipated face, angry face. “Katsumi!” His textbook is lifted away from above. The shock of the sudden shout makes his face freeze cross-eyed with tongue sticking out. “Is this what we do in the middle of a lesson? Fix your face!”

The source of his ridicules turns back around once he gets the giggles out of his system, feeling glad only the Alpha got caught “Uh… Sensei, to be honest, you’ll have to give me a second.” He manually rearranges his stiffened features not willing to return to normal without putting up a fight, “You caught me at a bad time. This might look like I’m insulting your intelligence. You’ll have to forgive me, I reckon my face is stuck.”

The teacher’s disappoint in him as a person shows clear through as he looks at the stark contrast between the highly intelligent work on the test paper but stupidity of the person in real life, “You’re really only smart on paper. Go stand outside, oh and don’t forget your dunce cap!” Kouji passes by his row with his still conceited gait, Kanata feels as if he’s forgot how to breath when a singular warm freckled hand secretly brushes over the back of his hand on the desk.

Takayuki intimidates him to the size of a pushpin needle as he gets the explanation of why he had to get called in the middle of the day from his school and after hearing the explanation, frankly, he is less than impressed. Minori reads the note sent home detailing the efficient use of his time in class. “Your face got stuck? What-? Why were you-? How did it-? I can’t even. What else am I supposed to say other than don’t do it again! I don’t want anymore notes home about stupid hideous face contests or whatever.”

“Takayuki-san, this isn’t about hideous faces. They just think he’s far too advanced and want to move him up two grade levels.”

Later that night, Takayuki and his nonexistant fashion sense search under the couch cushions, inside the cupboards, on top of the bookshelves, and every nook and cranny but still can’t find his new volume of the green notebook. His search brings him to Kouji’s door. He raps on his door once but there comes no reply from inside, then raps twice. No reply. If he were sensible, he would’ve deduced understandable assumptions on what a fourteen year old boy in the middle of puberty would be doing alone in his room at night with the door closed.

The act of him masturbating to pictures of Kanata is only part of the reason he slams the door shut the same instant he opens it. The main kneeslapper that has him banging on the door for mercy is the fact that he was also sniffing in Kanata’s scent from the PE shirt that was lent to him. When the door opens again, Kouji is abashedly pretending to read a scientific book on his bed. Takayuki tries his level best to stop every muscle in his face from madly convulsing.. “So… have you seen my book?” The out of control twitching of his lips is hardly repressed.

The notebooks have evolved from being just his personal classroom to a family community board where anyone can solve old college level mathematics and scientific enquiries or write new ones, respond to Philosophical quandaries in their perfectly fluent or broken foreign languages, express whatever thoughts they wish, or just scribble in event reminders. Kouji, absolutely red in the face, hands over the notebook sitting on his nightstand with quavering hands. Takayuki loses all shred of rationality.

“Now I see why you wanted your own room. It’s not as embarrassing as you think, okay? Every boy your age does this, even I did it.” The bashful freckled boy only one patronizing string of words away from bawling pleads for him to not say anything more to make the situation any more humiliating than it already is, as if your father walking in on you masturbating to pictures of your love interest could possibly get any more humiliating. “As far as I’m concerned, I didn’t see anything, so there’s nothing to tell Nori.”

He takes pity by not ridiculing the teen any longer and closes the door behind him softly. He flips to the Fluid Mechanics equation he left off on a day ago already completed for him in fanciful Cursive script, varying from Yuji’s neat rightward slanted hand or Seiji’s narrow flowing font, denoting that either Minori breezed through it way before him or that Kouji has begun picking up on the more complex subjects. A more challenging conundrum has taken the place of the old one.

The early morning fog looms as far as Kouji could see over the veiled trees. He hearkens a distant rumble of thunder and the howling of wind, the sky engulfed by black miasma swirling about disaster, flashes of lightning lit up the darkened sky followed by cracks of deafening thunder as though in apt reply. Outside the classroom where he is studiously spending his free study period balancing Number 2 pencils on his thin wrists and curled up between his lip and nose, an Omega is pressed up against the wall of the corridor that seems to stretch infinitely.

The large body of the Alpha taller than him and the cornered Omega covered up by the width of his shoulders leans his face closer to his prey. Once he speaks, Kouji can recognize who the owner of the looming athletic body is from childhood. “Why are you still with that nerdy baby? Don’t you want a real man by now? He still calls you Kan-chan even now. I bet he hasn’t even kissed you yet. An actual kiss, not those mommy pecks.” Captain of the track and field club. The one who could never stand that the freckled boy had stolen his place by Kanata’s side. Natural nemesis from middle school. His love rival.

Momotaro seizes Kanata by the face and although he can’t see the imposing stolen kiss, the skinny Alpha can tell by the flexing of his nemesis’ back muscles that it is very intense but also unreciprocated considering how much force he’s using to restrain Kanata’s hands. “See, that’s a real kiss. If that boy of yours is too chicken to give you what you need, I’m still here, Kanata.”

He confidently ambles away. Green eyes through thick-rimmed glasses meet with deep blue eyes, Kouji schools his visage to appear unaffected as if Monotaro hadn’t set up the last six minutes to provoke him and goes back to practicing his useless and now no longer amusing balancing act. Kanata rubs his mouth with the back of his hand and sets into an annoyed traipse on to his next class. Impatiently waiting only to be out of his sight, he angrily snaps the bundle of cylindric yellow writing instruments in half with one hand.

Surrounded by his friends, they whisper secretively in a huddle while the rest of the class packs up to go home for the day. “He said a friend of a friend lent it to him. His brother’s going to let us watch it in his room.” Kanata pulls Kouji out of the group of sweaty perverted teens and asks if they’re going home together. Kouji says ‘Not today’ guilty and catches up with his friends. They all smirk at him and punch him in the gut, “So what’s the deal with you and Isanami?”

“There is no deal.” He affects neutrality in his tone, knowing that either way regardless of his answer the conversation would turn to a perverse topic of what they’d love to do to Kanata if they were in his position, who in their class they’d love to fuck, who’d love to get fucked by them. When they get to the person’s brother’s room, the group of boys get comfortable by taking off their school uniforms and bags, some sit on the bed but most sit in front of the TV.

The DVDS are held up, “Let’s start with the Slutty Omega Filled with Cum in Bukake one first?” The boys show consensus with a raise of hands, Kouji’s not included in the count. Right from the start the porn starts off hardcore with gagging blowjobs and fast pleasureless fingering. The blindfolded Omega is passed from one Alpha to another, but Kouji’s mind goes into space to block out the moans and heavy breathing of the horny boys around him begin making when the charged sexual tension begins circulating with the oxygen in the air.

What would his parents say if they found out that he was doing something they wouldn’t approve of? The taste of nauseating bile corroding his stomach must be the punishment intended for the deceitful Alpha, the only one not jerking off. He squirms with legs crossed. Disgust with his nature for not being able to control how honestly turned on he is sets like an immovable boulder weighing on his chest cavity. The boy sitting behind him slaps him on the back as encouragement to loosen up, “What, you don’t like this one?” the box of tissues comes to him, he passes it to the next person to wipe his sticky hands clean of the cum. The nauseating smell of another Alpha’s semen. “Hey, put in the other one. Our friend here didn’t find it hot.”

“Katsumi, are you still a virgin or something?” The deep red blush gives him away despite claiming that he’s not. “Wait, you’ve never done it with Isanami? Seriously? I thought you would’ve by now!” Although he says he has the redder blush creeping up to his ears betrays his words. “If you’ve really done it, then prove it, by the end of this week snap a quick pic of him naked and show us.” Now that his pride is questioned Kouji takes on the challenge, even goes as far as to declare that till the end of the week would be unnecessary, he needs only one day.

Kanata is unhappily getting ready to go home alone again for the second day in the row when he is invited to come over to do their homeworks together. He rereads the complex math word problem and presses the mechanical pencil to his soft lips as he racks his brain, asking the other unresponsive sweating teen if he’s found the answer yet. Kouji nervously stares between his legs as the blonde erases his wrong answers with frustration, an anxious freckled hand stays on his knee suggestively. “Kou-chan, what are you doing?” he says as he reels back smiling cautiously.

The lecherous hand slide further up the seams of his jeans to grip his crotch, recognizing the ulterior motive behind the invitation, his heart beats more with fear than excitement, he resists Kouji as he gets more assertive. “Kou-chan, stop! I’m not ready for this!” His pleas are disregarded while unwelcome hands grope simultaneously under his shirt and inside the back of his jeans. With no other choice, Kanata knocks sense back into him with the thick math textbook and bursts out the door in disheveled array, turmoil in heart and violated in body.

Lunch period. Kanata has not once looked back despite the countless apologies written on balled up papers that have been thrown at him or notes passed up from classmates. He quickly catches him outside the first floor window walking side by side with love rival #1 who has apparently never heard of a little thing called personal space toward the direction of the general cafeteria instead of the quiet secret hidden spot in the hedges where they share their lunches. _Are you just going to avoid me forever?_  “Kan-chan, wait!” He keeps walking and Kouji keeps talking, “I already said I was sorry, what else do you want me to say?”

Kanata angrily whips around fast, Momotarou gets whipped with blonde hair, “I don’t know! How about ‘I was stupid for betting my friends I could get in your pants in a day’! Yeah, I heard all about it! Do I look that easy to you? Excuse me if I don’t want naked pictures of me going around school, even if it is to prove how ‘manly’ you are!”

“Fine, I’m sorry! I admit that in the beginning I really did think about doing it but I wouldn’t have gone through with it!”

“It’s not about going through with it that I’m pissed at you for, it’s the fact that you had the intentions at all, dumbass! You put that group of perverts above me and you’re just so stupidly eager to impress them you’re forgetting yourself. They don’t even like you, they like your wallet!”

Livid anger veins sprout on his freckled temples from receiving the severity of the insults, “How am I forgetting myself, please enlighten me! Why are you fine with Momo-kun kissing you but when I try to, you push me away?” Momo flinches with defensive steps backward from being involved in the cutting war of words. “We’re not kids anymore, of course it’s only natural I’m interested in having sex! If I’m the one you’re going out with, shouldn’t you be fine with me doing those types of things?!”

Kanata slams the open window closed on his face, “I don’t have to be fine with letting a stupid Alpha like you do anything! I didn’t want Momo to kiss me but at least he never made bets about scoring with me like a loser!” Momotarou takes many more steps back with clammy palms and clogged throat, ready to dash if it came to that, “And I will gladly let you when you become ‘man’ enough to stop being a follower!” Kouji rubs his sore nose from impact with the hard glass pane, “Now go find your little ‘friends’ and make up stories about how I was moaning for you when you got your hand under my shirt!” Kanata coldly puts one foot in front of the other without looking back at the teen huffing heavily with chest moving up and down with every hot breath. He doesn’t give proud grandson of Katsumi Yoshiyuki and first son of Katsumi Takayuki the time of day.

Dinner at the Katsumi household was considerably quieter with one less voice to tell about his horrible day of getting verbally attacked from every angle imaginable. An idiot, a follower, and a loser. A fool, a wallet, a sycophant. He absentmindedly moves the greens around on his plate, just like usual, playing around with the vegetables and waiting for someone to act as his advocate by asking Minori for a second helping so that he can push them onto his brothers. They all stop chewing cold turkey when the boy who’s never put anything organically green in his mouth pops in a broccoli. _Oh my god, he’s gotta be dying! Kou-nii ate it! Is the world coming to an end?_ Although he won the veggie battle for the first time since his eldest son began teething, Minori is the one to ask if he’s okay with the most worried face. _Takayuki-san, should we take him to the hospital?_

After three chews, the horrid tasting leafy miniature tree is spat out in his napkin. _Phew, don’t scare us like that!_ Minori takes Seiji’s plate to the kitchen, knowing full well it’s just an excuse to help their brother finish eating his least favorites, but before he does he waits for Kouji to meet his observant eyes. “You messed up really bad with Kan-chan this time.” The rest of the family is lost on the topic since the depressed teen hasn’t really said much after coming home looking like a drowned rat. “Whatever you did, you know you shouldn’t have done it.” With one look at the moping expressive _Kan-chan absolutely refuses to talk to me_ face he already knows or has an inkling of the gist. “There’s no Omega that can stay mad forever when an Alpha knows he was wrong and admits to it.”

Kouji leaves the table looking absolved, his previously frowning lips quirk into an even U-shaped parabola. Takayuki asks him how he knew that the problem had to do with Kan-chan and how he assumed the fault lie with him when he’s said less than five words, to which the original king of the sass machines replied, “Because I gave birth to him.” _That doesn’t really answer anything._

Kanata ignores the dozens of paper balls bouncing off the back of his head. _Hah~ Come on. I really wish you were more forgiving, Kan-chan._ His group of perverted friends surround around his desk during the bleak study hall period to exchange letting him in on another secret group porn watching if he pays for all their lunches using false friendly tones to say “we’re friends, aren’t we.” Seeing the truth behind the unforgiving blonde’s words, he scrapes his chair out and shocks not just Kanata but the entire class by lowering himself into a submissive kneel with hands crossed behind his back. “What are you doing?!”

“In the old days, this was how apologies were made, I’m only allowed to get up when you say you’re not mad anymore. Kan-chan, I never meant to put anyone above you, I don’t care about anyone else as long as me and you are together. If you want to wait until we’re wrinkly to have sex, I can live with that because all I really want is to be with you.” The girls squeal and clap hands as they throw around the words proposal and ideal boyfriend. “As my fiance, I want you to always be happy. My entire world becomes colorless when I’m not with you.” The boys holding their eardrums from the assault of higher, louder squeals are envious of the brave romantic easily spouting infatuation from the heart. _Kou-chan, this is not the place for this!_

Kanata giggles internally at the lanky Alpha yet to come into his own so boldly proclaiming himself his fiance, however takes no action to correct or deny him the privilege of the title. He takes a long look at the boy now wearing prescribed glasses, recognizing him now as _his_ Kou-chan through the new aura exuded. _Any day now, Kan-chan. My knees are starting to chafe._ Kanata meekly offers him his hand, “I really mean that much to you, Kou-chan?”

Kouji gently kisses the pale proffered hand, showing no faint hint of lie whatsoever in his earnesty, “You mean everything to me.” He turns the hand around and also places gentle affectionate kisses on the palm and up the wrist.

Kanata pouts at how obnoxiously petulant his recent behavior was, sure making the bet was a grand fuck up, but it wasn’t so grand to necessitate ignoring him for an entire week and making him feel like a bigger piece of shit than he already does even after he kept apologizing. Yeah, peer pressure got the better of him but even if he does change a little Kou-chan will always be Kou-chan deep down inside. “It’s not like I was mad anyway,” his puffed out cheeks lend comedy to his timid hand slightly trembling. “Are you planning to live down there? Get up already.” Kouji jumps to his feet with a grin tearing across his face to press his lips to Kanata’s kissy ones.

Though no longer fighting, to really make up with Kouji, Kanata makes up with his deep pockets after school. He points, Kouji buys. “How can you eat that?” he asks with his handkerchief holding back his vomit as the blonde shoves diabetically sugary donuts into his mouth. _Seems like something Yuu would love._

“It’s good. But if I keep eating like this, I’m gonna balloon. Kou-chan, what would you do if I gained a lot of weight? Like if I became 400 pounds! Would you still like me?”

Kouji looks at him as serious as a heart attack, “I’d leave you. You’re already ugly, so if you got fat on top of that, it’s definitely over.” Kanata glares the soul out of him, he defiantly shovels donuts in like a machine.  “Your face is a sight to see right now, it’s funny how your eyebrows become unibrows when you’re so mad."  _I don’t care! You’re so mean to me. Leave! No one’s hung up over you, just ‘cause your face isn’t half bad doesn’t mean you get to call me ugly. You’re just too embarrassed to call me beautiful!_ "Kan-chan, you do know I’m only kidding, right?” Kanata still mechanically piles donut after donut in his bottomless pit, “If you became 400 pounds, I’ll become 800.”

Kanata cools down with breathless giggles, he twines his arm with the Alpha’s as their steps synch, "Forget 800, you don’t even weigh 100!" Two sharp ringed laughs vibrate the personal space between them. Almost as if intending to break their reconciliation, a rumble of thunder echoes throughout the sky and large drops of rain began to fall hard. The sky above is dominated by tumbling gray rainclouds. The rain falls steadily without letting up, the summer flowers droop melancholically under the oppressing gravity of the fat droplets.  A dense sweet earthy smell rises from the ground, enveloping everything within its soft embrace, almost to the end of signifying that Mother Earth is in the process of being cleansed of her multitudes of impurities. A startlingly low rumble rings loud in the cool freshness of the breeze, the sky roars with crackling satisfaction.

The teens run for cover from the flash rains. Kouji twines his arms around his thin shoulders for comfort under the shop overhang, using his uniform jacket as a barrier to prevent catching a cold as his weak immune system is wont to do regularly between seasonal transitions. His curfew timer goes off. _Great, I’ve got to get home in this weather._ Kanata goes through it again in his head as he’s on his phone asking one of his brothers to bring him an umbrella from home while the fat droplets pitter-patter off the refuge from the persistent downpour.

Kanata imprints his damp handprint on his narrow back. The wet boy jumps and yelps a loud cry of pain the nerve impulses in his stinging red back send to his electrical control tower. _What was that for?!_  The Omega produces forth from his bag a white towel engraved with a hand stitched gold letter K at the bottom corner; he intentionally keeps ambiguous the mystery behind whether the K-marked accessories are for his personal use or for Kouji’s personal use. “You’re going to get sick again.” He next speaks softly as one would to an animal likely to get frightened away by the sudden sound, “Kou-chan… my parents won’t be home this weekend. If you want, you can wait at my house until it stops raining.” No mistaking it, an invitation to stay the night that carries promise of becoming one. The two boys’ hands clasp and intertwine their irregularly fast heartbeats. His blue eyes peek again at the ecstatic green scopes. “You can tell your parents you’re with me.”  

Kanata nods along with half a brain to all of Minori’s instructions and warnings to exercise caution: Don’t leave the stove on, make sure the doors are locked, they’re only one call away if they need anything, etc. The other half concentrates on keeping sanity as his pale sweaty hand is tightly held in Kouji’s equally clammy palm.

His parents are out for the night as he explained on their journey to his single family house that seemed both long and short at the same time. The convenience store bought plastic umbrella snaps closed, releasing dews on the carpeted floor of Kanata’s heated bedroom. Kouji pulls down his hood and shakes his hair to gain some life back into the flattened black locks. With sneezes and streams of snot already running from his red nose, he sets his bag to the side. Kanata takes pause from ceremoniously changing in front of him to throw him his heavy white fleece blanket, also engraved with the large gold K, and resumes shedding off the uncomfortably damp bottoms while Kouji habitually squeezes shut his eyes from the temptation.

Taking cue from Kanata seated on the edge of the bed semi-naked in only thin boxers facing him with much expectation of reciprocation, shyly covering his vulnerably exposed alabaster chest with cold crossing hands, Kouji also undresses out of the damp fabrics. Feeling self-conscious displaying his body in nothing but a thin cloth of underwear  in this context for the first time as well, he hugs his left arm tightly with right arm. Hearts aflutter in this slow, delicate process that requires no preceding rush, but the heat it brings licks the heart and body with blue flames from the darkest crevices. Not knowing where or how to start and too shy to even make eye contact, they wait in silence. The silence leads them to their ritual of gazing into one another’s souls briefly, turning away for a few seconds and then peeking again more tentatively with concealed scarlet red blushes and lovesick simpers.

Kouji clears his throat awkwardly, Kanata holds out his trembling hand again, calling him to come forward without fear and whispering softly everything will be okay. Kouji sets himself courageous to carve out his truest desires from pieces of his heart beating like a drum for Kanata, taking the hand beckoning to the alabaster semi-nakedness, “Please make me a man.” He lays flat on his back as Kouji crawls on the bed and takes him strongly by the shoulder to align his soft pink lips to anticipating parted crimson sweetness...

 

TBC.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We got a nice beautiful family here. It would be a shame if something happened to it <\---- ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) This is only the beginning, shit's about to get real this volume! That aside, my cutie patooties are finally going to have sex??! Tune in next chapter to find out how it goes!


	3. Heterochromatic Black Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Slinks back in* I'll just leave this here.
> 
> I wanted to post this around Halloween, but I'm 10 days late. *Cricket cricket*
> 
> Yeahhhh, I had a lot I wanted to say but you're lucky I forgot. I didn't wanna take this long to update because I hate slow updates and unfinished cliff hangers too, so I'm already writing the next chapter, but I won't make promises I can't keep.

* * *

The bed bounces imperceptibly accepting Kouji’s weight. Kanata sifts through the drying raven plumes still wet with drops of rainwater clinging to his nape. “It’s getting really shaggy.” Kouji capitalizes on the opportunity by floating a wavering bony hand to rest on his knee. Kanata doesn’t call for halt this time and his body remains relaxed so the twitchy hand affirmatively continues boldly stealing higher and higher inside his boxers until they reach the velvety flesh of the inner thighs. He swallows a large ball of anxiety down his windpipe. _I’m gonna just do it!_

Anxiously, he squeezes the Omega’s chest, testing the waters to find his sensitive parts. Kanata flinches a little as the cold hands tease his pink nipples, “Kou-chan. I don’t feel much from there,” he tells him with slight disappointment, although Kouji goes on double-handed squeezing his chest, too obsessed with always wanting to do it to stop now whether an erogenous zone or not. Kanata counterattacks by simultaneously pushing in the small nipples of the bony frame, which earns a jolt and gasp from the Alpha. “Why are _you_ the one sensitive there?” Kanata’s face deadpans, equal parts vexed and agitated. _Why does that make you mad?_

Kouji leans in with the intent to go for a kiss, his arms take Kanata around the waist and small of back. Kanata, extremely anxious as well, faces him with blue eyes closed and soft pale hands holding Kouji’s shoulders. Take 1. Their nervousness moves them at the same time. The first kiss has the painful feel of teeth bumping together. As they awkwardly laugh the nerves slip away, “I’ll stay still, so you try again, Kou-chan.” _I have to stay composed._ Take 2. Kanata accidentally opens his eyes while Kouji mentally prepares himself to steal his lips, causing them to bump heads the second time. They laugh awkward tension away again for a third try. “We’re making this a lot more uncomfortable than it needs to be.” _Yeah. Kan-chan doesn’t seem nervous at all._ “Is the Always Confident Kou-chan nervous of one little Omega?” Kouji starts fretting at the lame secret revealed.

He fluidly takes Kanata’s hands in his own, “That’s because you’re not just one little Omega to me. I’m… always nervous when I’m with you. It feels like I can’t breathe.” Skipping heartbeats pulse between the short distance. “I know it’s kind of sappy.” Kanata embraces his warming freckled lover.

His meek voice tickles on the sternum of the skinny boy, “There’s nothing wrong with that. I like sappy. Would you feel better if I said it’s the same with me.? Like when I want to be with you all the time or when we secretly steal glances. Because it feels like we’re the only two people in the world.” The close proximity passes Kanata’s thumping heartbeat into Kouji’s chest as quick as a live conductive wire come in contact with water, “It’s just you and me. We can go at our own pace.”

With the release of a single tense sigh, Kouji holds around his slim waist and back. “Kan-chan, tilt your head to the right.” Fast breaths move from Alpha to Omega with lips slightly parted waiting for the bespectacled boy to give himself over to the same overwhelmingly dizzying feelings to flood his senses. The bifocals are seated on the nightstand. Kouji closes his eyes for three seconds, breathing three slow, separate breaths. Take 3. Once open, Kouji comes forward trembling slightly and tilts his head to the left while a warm hand stays on the side of Kanata’s face, his heart’s impending explosion threatens to ruin his concentration. Then finally sparks fly in every compass direction as their lips capture intimately with none of the previous children’s innocence. Kanata exhales a soft moan as he moves in perfect synchronization. Trying to exhale billowing breaths through his nostrils Kouji can feel Kanata’s overjoyed fingers in his hair and his own sensually rubbing Kanata’s ears.

The Omega runs electrifying fingertips up and down Kouji’s spine, eliciting aroused moans from the body warmed from the flush of heat coursing through his veins. Kanata feels absolute euphoric bliss envelope him and his heart singing with pure joy. He anticipatingly lets the cold flustered hands continue their exploration over pale feverish flesh. Kouji pulls away for air and already Kanata misses the lovely spreading heat curling within his craving body all the way down to the bone marrow. “I already know I’m going to fall in love with kissing you…” he says dazedly rubbing his lips still feeling the strong tingling sensation. _Kyaa! I just kissed Kou-chan!_ His lovestruck expression doesn’t hide how much he wants to jump up and down squealing just that. _He’s a natural good kisser. I’m so lucky!_

Kanata opens the last drawer of the dresser by his bed and pulls out a box of condoms and lube prepared beforehand for the occasion. Bony arms squeeze around Kanata again for another round of heavy making out and lewd gropes of unimaginably smooth porcelain white skin, Kanata reciprocates by tentatively slipping his hands under the elastic of the raven teen’s boxers and loosely stroking the pulsing arousal. _It’s getting harder._ Kouji gulps with bated breath as Kanata gets off the bed to shyly wiggle out of his underwear.

Unnecessarily loud screeching as Kouji runs a slim finger through the straight glossy blonde pubic hair spoils the romantic mood that was slowly settling over them. “Wow, it’s really blonde!” _I was a fool to think he’d take this seriously._ “How much more blonde can you possibly get?” He stares in awe. _What does that even mean?_ Kanata shoves him on the chest and reaches for his boxers, turned off by the immature reaction. Kouji comes to sit on the edge of the bed while his naughty hands palm the perky ass of the blonde standing in front of him, spreading him open and slowly sliding eager fingers inside the tight cavern while licking the top of the blonde pubic line. _I never knew Kou-chan was such a pervert._

The strange sensation of the inexperienced slender fingers working inside him start again once he tentatively back in bed. Kanata takes initiative by anxiously pulling off the clearly aroused Alpha’s boxers for him in the middle of the addictive making out. _I’m even more nervous seeing it like this! Maybe I should tell him I changed my mind. This looks like it’s going to hurt. Why is Kou-chan so skinny and short, but that is so.. Ugh! It makes no sense._ Kouji hides the still hardening erection behind cupped hands with a slightly embarrassed- mainly proud- blush, “Stop staring.” The lights are turned off. Kanata sloppily tries to take him in his mouth while Kouji simultaneously works on loosening him up from behind until he’s ready to be entered. Droplets of the Omega’s precum drip precariously onto the wrinkled clean sheets.

As he slathers a copious amount of the lube in his palm he mentally recites as much as he can recall of the proper steps of action from the uncomfortable birds and bees talk that Takayuki was kicked out for by Minori when he began using puppets and “Bang, bang, bang” sound effects for illustrative demonstration. _Confirmation, preparation, insertion._ Lying flat on his stomach face down with legs closed tightly, Kanata nervously hugs his fluffy Red Angry Birds pillow as Kouji begins to probe the rigid tip to twitching entrance, his heart beating madly against his eardrums. _Will it go in? It doesn’t look like it’ll fit in such a small place._

The tip of the thick stiff erection begins making way inside his narrow opening. _It went in!_ Kanata can register only one sensation: searing pain as if every part of him is being torn asunder, horrifically broken into tiny pieces. _Whoa, it feels incredibly hot and tight inside, he’s squeezing around me! I feeling like I’m going to cum already._ Although Kouji tries to not push their inexperienced bodies too far, the rushing pleasure of it all overwhelms his fragile self-control, perverse natural instincts rule him to thrust his hips faster, plunge deeper into the accepting tight vacuum, desperately seek climax to quell the soul-consuming bestial hunger gnawing deep within him. _It’s hard to move._ “Kan-chan, relax your body.” Each and every of Kouji’s slow thrusts inside him is pure torture that draws only silenced winces of pain from Kanata. _He’s not reacting, I can’t tell if he’s feeling good._ Kanata’s determination as well as his erection have gone flaccid.

Kanata whimpers and bites down hard on the pillow to refrain from crying out of consideration for his feelings. His front teeth break through the skin of his hand bitten down hard on. _It hurts!_ The thin lines of red blood mixed with sweat drip and drop from his thighs to the bed sheets. _I don’t want to do this anymore_ ! Feelings he was fighting so hard to keep back break loose. _I feel sick._ “Kou-chan…” The sincere hand he places on Kanata’s shaking shoulder for console proves futile, defeated by the intensity of the pleasureless lovemaking, Kanata’s teary eyes attest to his resignation. “Kou-chan, get off.” Kouji, with his spirit broken and confidence popped like a needle taken to an inflated balloon, lays gravely dejected on the edge of the bed while Kanata vomits in the bathroom across the hall.

* * *

 

Seiji sneaks into Yuji’s bed, bringing his teddy bear and own blanket along since Yuji haphazardly sleeps in the nude under his covers. “Little Pea, go back to your bed,” he drawls out in a fatigued half-awake strictness laced with sleep.

Seiji wiggles even closer into his brother’s bosom to be protected from the sounds of booming thunder splitting open the sky and lightspeed blinding white-blue fear striking lightning seeping into his innocent white dreams. “Yuu-nii, can I sleep with you? It’s scary by myself.” Big brother once again gives in to the many whims of his undeniably adorable clingy baby brother. He tenderly encompasses the racecar print bedsheet cocoon. Yuji shifts and moves over to make room for the child. _Just for tonight._ “Yuu-nii, why is Kou-nii staying with Kan-chan?” his deeply unsatisfied pout is extenuated by the moonlight streaming in through the curtains of the windows. “We could’ve taken an umbrella to him. He doesn’t have to stay with Kan-chan.”

Yuji scratches his curly locks stuck in the wavy phase, not yet begun to twist obnoxiously, “Kou-nii can stay with Kan-chan if he wants to, can’t he. And why are you saying Kan-chan so meanly? You don’t like him?” _Jii-san says when two Omegas are fighting, move out of the way because one way or another, the fight is going to end with you being wrong._

“It’s not that I don’t like him. I just wish he weren’t so… Kan-chan!” _I don’t get it._ “If he weren’t so himself, maybe Kou-nii wouldn’t be so obsessed with him. I have 2 brothers but it feels like only one because Kan-chan has his nails dug in so deep on Kou-nii I never get to see him! He probably likes Kan-chan more than me!”

Seeing the underlying jealousy, Yuji can infer the roots of this hissy fit, “Come on, Little Pea. That’s not true. He loves you and he loves Kan-chan. They’re different types of love, but neither is less than the other. And besides, I think Kou-nii would still be head over heels for Kan-chan even if Kan-chan… weren’t so Kan-chan?”

Seiji huffs and moodily crosses his arms. “Then if me and Kan-chan were falling off a cliff, who would he choose?” Yuji uncrosses them and placates the possessive flare by putting the child to the warm skin over his heartbeat like Minori does sometimes to put the youngest to sleep.

“You have 2 brothers, remember? If Kou-nii saves Kan-chan, then I’ll save my Little Pea.” Seiji’s face heats up, letting his brother know that the anger has been abated with a happy blush in the dark. _I love Yuu-nii. He’s so cool, smart, kind, and handsome. If he weren’t my brother, I might’ve fallen in love with him._

“Yuu-nii.” He waits for his response. _Say “What?” Hurry._

“I love you too. Now go to sleep.”

Seiji fumes again at his lovely plan thwarted, “You were supposed to let me say it first! You ruined it, Yuu-nii,  you totally did it on purpose.” Yuji chuckles and chuckles while his Little Pea throws another temper tantrum for new reasons. Thankfully, his older brother could sleep through a storm so gradually Seiji’s voice drifts off from his consciousness and after having his complaints fall on deaf ears for some time Seiji also joins him in getting some shut-eye.

* * *

Kanata silently sits on one edge of the bed like a slanted statue after returning and Kouji on the other with his gloomy head held between his hands. _Perfect. Every time he thinks about the first time we had sex, he’s going to remember that I sucked so much he threw up. The only up side was that there was no premature ejaculation._ The rustling of clothes brings Kanata back to real time. _I think I should just go home._ “Wait, you don’t have to leave. We can try again.”

He continues getting dressed, “It’s fine. It doesn’t have to be now. Why don’t we try again some other time?” _I lost my confidence. I don’t think I can get it up again._ Kanata roughly pulls him back on the bed with a creaky fwump just as he was about to get his pants over his underwear.

With scarlet blooming on his cheeks, Kanata weighs down the teen trying to get up again, “It does have to be now! I don’t want this being the memory for our first time. I really wanted tonight to be special and I got myself mentally prepared but it hurt a lot more than I expected. It wasn’t because of you, I just couldn’t take it.” Kanata turns bright red behind his hands, “I really want to learn your body…. and I really want you to learn mine too. We’ve waited long enough. So… don’t go now. ” _How am I supposed to say no._

With the honest explanation setting in, Kouji takes off his pants for another chance to pour all of his adoration on Kanata’s body and dote on him until he reaches blinding white ecstasy, to be trusted a second time to do right by him. Kanata reluctantly lets himself be gently laid on his back. He can read the fear of pain in Kanata’s terrified eyes clearly. He presses his lips to the tightly sealed pair swollen from the biting, “I promise I won’t hurt you again. Please trust me. Let me in.” Kanata shakes off his inhibitions against the desperate pleas and hesitantly parts his lips to allow their tongues to speak their own language through endless streams of gentle loving kisses.

Kanata turns redder by the second being under the muscle-less boy, his voice comes from behind his tented hands covering the blushing rosy cheeks, “Don’t stare at me so hard, it’s embarrassing.” _Where else am I supposed to look then?_  “We somehow always find ourselves in this tempting position.” _It doesn’t look like you have any problems with it though._ Kouji removes his noticeably shaking hands and pins down his wrists.  Looming over him with a focused expression  filled with so much overwhelming lust and love only now clearly displays the dark haired boy’s dormant Alpha traits. “Don’t look at me!”

Kouji struggles to peel off Kanata’s hands, “Should I look at the wall then?! Eye contact is the most important part. Kan-chan,” his tone takes a sincere turn, Kanata waits with ragged breath, _Finally. Sounds like a compliment is coming._ “You’re a lot more ugly up close.” _Get off me, you inconsiderate fool! I hope your dick shrivels up and falls off!_ Kouji catches his fussy legs mid-kick after laughing a year’s worth and subdues his frustration with a princely smile. After hard labor breathing himself back to a manageably calm state, he meets the earnestly green orbs burning with fierce emotions head on. _I bet he’s going to say another mean thing._

Kanata whips his head away from the rudeness, “I don’t want to hear it.”

“Yes, you do.” He begins with delicate kisses to the side of the pale neck and source of fast heartbeats. Kanata flinches. _Save it! I’m just going to get called ugly._ Kouji suddenly jerks him up and flips his head back to be captivated by the charming green pools, “Kanata, I love you.” Everything stops. _Kanata, I love you. Kanata. I love you._ Belligerently drumming heartbeats assail his eardrums. His overheated mind races to take the confession in.

Kanata recoils more from being addressed properly. Since they were little boys running around chasing new adventures and wishing to be grown ups faster so as to progress their relationship from childish affection to romantic potential mates status, it has always been “Kan-chan, Kou-chan.” Kan-chan and Kou-chan  can be substituted for Kanata and Kouji when they address each other privately from now on.

The only thing he can think to say to hide his dancing heart liberally skipping beats is, “I’m surprised you actually know my name. I thought you’ve been calling me Kan-chan for so long only because you forgot my real name.” _I might’ve at some point to be honest._ Kouji rests his forehead against Kanata’s, transfixed on the beautiful deep ocean blue eyes avoiding his gaze after receiving the love confession, the intense emotions reverberating pangs through his whole body unwilling to recede. “I can’t respond if you say it so suddenly.”

He inches closer to sniff the alluring natural scent at his neck, “It’s fine. I already know your response.” _He smells really good. It’s a nice, comforting scent._

Kanata plays with the baby hairs at his nape, tangling fingers in his hair and messing it up wildly, “You really say the douchiest things sometimes. You call it confidence, and I call it douchiness.” The boy laying on top of him doesn’t take care to hide that he takes major offense to the insult. “Kouji…” The skinny Alpha answers with “Yeah? I’m right here,” while lovingly eskimo kissing. _We’re like adults. Too many good things happened tonight: we kissed, and kind of had sex, he called me Kanata, and even said…_ “I’m so happy. My heart feels so full like it’s going to explode because no one has ever said my name that sweetly. I’m so happy I might really die.”

The explorers knead the sensitive skin of his inner thighs, proven to be one of the blonde’s weak spot,s to cause his excited lower half collecting pleasure to twitch. _Who would die_ _just from that._ He whispers with hot heavying breath and soft chuckling directly to his ear, “Kanata.” Kanata shivers as the love breathed regulates his mind’s circuitry. “Your ears are sensitive.” Kouji swirls his tongue in his ear. His stimulated breath wisps Kanata’s blonde hair as he nips and tugs on the earlobes meanwhile delicate fingers are suckled inside the blonde’s slippery mouth, his tongue presses on them to trace his molars and rub over the throbbing hot roof of his mouth. _The inside of his mouth is sensitive too. So erotic!_ He pulls himself away from Kanata panting with ragged breaths melted into putty from having all of his sensitive parts ravished at once. The heat also rushes from the raven’s head to his hardening penis with no delay.

Kanata pulls the Alpha’s shirt over his head to reveal the canvas of dispersed freckles again, using tentative hands to taste all of the smooth body. Kouji willingly invites him to learn the curves, dips, and lines of his figure. Learn it, feel it, want for it, desire it as madly as a starving man desires food, just as he does Kanata’s. The blonde teen squeezes his eyes shut tight, his unsettled chest rises and falls in an unstable pattern as craving green eyes scan his vulnerable nakedness. Kouji pulls shaky covers away from teary blue eyes again. “Look at me properly. I want you to remember the first time I give you ecstasy.” The assuring resolution returns to the self-confident tone. Slim fingers hesitantly probe inside his hot, tight cavern eagerly wet again for the silky sensation of velvet against velvet. Resilient green flames bore commit the individual details of his facial features to memory all the while corresponding fingers dig, grind, and scissor inside him, bringing twinges of pain and restrained pleasure.

Kanata inches further back in subconscious effort to avoid pain again. Kouji tilts his chin up and forces the blonde to look right at him, “If you’re scared, look into my eyes. They’re your mirrors. Right now, you’re the only thing on my mind. Don’t look anywhere else. Just lose yourself in my eyes.” The calming effective hypnotic trance dispels any remaining anxious or doubting thoughts to be entertained. Transfixed in mesmerization, Kanata barely flinches as his thighs are nipped and kissed roughly, creating love bites, then closed together and squeezed around the stiff erection, moving in and out, the hardness rubs against the silk fans the carnal flames of desire. More, his unsatiated sexual nature begs for more, to be filled up inside completely. “Do you really want this? We’re not going to stop this time.”

Kanata nods as Kouji puts on a fresh condom and splatters lube over the rock-hard arousal. The Omega holds his legs open for the stiff erection to ease into him a second time, savoring the entire length this time. The pain relatively dull, uncomfortable but comparatively seamless. Kanata circles his fingers around where he ends and Kouji begins, abashedly beaming at how two separate entities make one complete whole. “I always knew we were made for each other.” Kouji pants and sweats at the overwrought tsunami of gratification coming at him at once being inside the twitching, swallowing hole. Kanata’s face flushes bright red as he watches the Alpha struggling to hold himself together, shuddering uncontrollably. In his heart of hearts he feels immense pride welling up that it is his body giving Kouji immeasurable satisfaction. The way it impulsively tightens around his manhood, the greedy manner in which it takes him in deep and deeper still that hitches his breath, frenzies his fragile self-control, steals pathetic panting whimpers from him. 

Kouji tries tedious experimentive thrusts, varying from shallow to deep, met with responsive groans and winces in order to find that switch to torture the blonde with toe-curling pleasure instead of pain. Math equations and formulas float around gray and formless in his mind to stave off the waves of pleasure accumulated about to burst prematurely, until Kanata gasps and arches his back at one specifically aimed thrust sending his mind and body into astral numbness. _What- What was that? It felt good!_ “Right there?” A rewarding grin curves his lips into a smirking parabola. Kouji wipes the sweat from his forehead, now knowing his mission and honing in with precision. Freckled hands easily find their pair in a tight knot with pale hands at the head of the bed.

“Ah!” Wet squelches and lewd moans come from under him. He goes much slower until he has Kanata’s body begging for him and his unrestrained moans tuned to dance to the music of skin against skin and his fluctuating heartbeats to trip. Kanata’s long nails dig desperately into the mattress as he writhes riding the waves of unbearable pleasure, losing all sense of awareness, his entire being dedicated in the moment on chasing after blinding white ecstasy. Strings of drool run past his clenched teeth. “Mm! It feels too good…” Kanata’s legs are held high and apart as more aggressive doting thrusts coax out loud moans. Not knowing what else to do with himself to contain the uncontainable sensations, he quiets himself by biting down on his forearm.

Kouji leans in to nip a pale ear, hoarse throat consumed by desire produces charming richer, deeper manly tones oozing sexiness, “Does it feel good?” Kanata shivers as rolling waves of energy electrocute him. _It feels amazing…_ “Tell me… how good I’m making you feel.” He pulls out teasingly until Kanata regains enough of his bearings, waiting for him to beg. The blonde teen unabashedly fingers himself as substitute for the hot thickness, breathing too hard to properly pronounce his slurred version of, ‘I love it… I never want it to stop…’ The Alpha guides his limp arms around his narrow shoulder blades, “Kanata, hold here.” Kanata’s shivering arms reach up and tangle around his shoulders.

Kouji lifts his hips higher, allowing more of himself inside the compatible body made for his own, pulling almost all the way out before thrusting back in hard. Kanata inhales a sharp breath as he is kissed roughly, his weak arms cling desperately to the raven’s elbows. As the thrusts pick up pace his arms encircle the raven’s waist and draw him in close, touching stomach to stomach. Their lips insatiably hungry for each other, their consuming madness no longer kept at bay, madness drives passion. When they break apart for air, he rests his forehead against Kanata’s and drinks in some much needed oxygen while sinking into the Omega’s tight hold. The point where one begins and the other ends have become one existence.

Kouji admires every inch of him, from every single strand of platinum blonde hair to his delicate alabaster fingertips, burning with desire to touch, taste, devour. Smirking as his yearning hands claim the tripping heartbeat and the heaving chest as if to proclaim all of it belongs to him and him only. Kanata twines his legs around the back of his knees in an unbreakable deadlock. He passionately steals the blonde’s lips again in a deep kiss, allowing him one breath only to moan out “Kouji…” _He’s close._ Taking the croaky moan as warning Kouji grasps the base of the Omega’s stiff erection and fondles his testicles, loosely stroking the weeping length in time with his thrusts to further amplify the prickling sensation gnawing for climax. Kanata gives a last moan as the heat lining his abdomen uncurls, exploding white hot ejaculate all over his stomach as he sees only searing spotted blankness, accidentally biting the freckled teen’s lip due to pleasure too much to handle. His taut entrance pulsates uncontrollably and clenches around his Alpha’s twitching hardness.

Incapable of holding himself together any longer the freckled teen grants himself salvation from the voracious thirst. His heart beating faster, body and mind tingling with numbness, pathetically whimpering onto the alabaster chest. His entire being convulses; the passage of time slips from his grasp of reality, sharp nails dig into the nearest thing, and he clings inseparably to Kanata while simultaneously losing the battle to catch his breath. He quickly snaps off the condom. The insatiable fountain continues wildly spurting ejaculate all over Kanata’s visage. Kouji goes on losing oxygen, unable to hear sound itself until the acute storm of orgasm is overcome. Strangely feeling both vulnerable yet in complete control, mentally vacant while the entirety of his tactile sense rushes to a single point of exit until the hypersensitive bliss and euphoria journey through him.

 _You shoot too far._ “It got in my eye,” Kanata whines rubbing the cum off his face _._ “How romantic.” Kouji kindly wipes the blonde’s face with whatever’s nearby. Kanata strokes the shaggy hair down while the Alpha collapsed on top of him catches his breath, both only able to produce laughter as a response when they gaze at each other following the successfully memorable and gratifying second attempt. Kanata hides under the blanket with most of his face covered, “That was amazing! It was everything I imagined and more.” _I already know I’m going to get addicted to this._

He lays against the shuddering thin freckled chest still raw to the touch. Kanata swirls circles around the ring of his nipple, “Kou-chan, do you know you look like you have asthma?” _What the-?!_ “Hehe, you look so offended. You’re short and have no meat on your bones. If I didn’t know you, I’d think you had asthma. And probably write your name on the inside of your underwears, are extremely allergic to beestings and sunlight,” _All of those are generalizations! How do I look like I have asthma?!_ “You’re not violent, aggressive, or feel like you have to prove yourself all the time. It’s nice being with you because it feels like being with a Beta since Alphas scare me.” Kouji grits his teeth, not knowing whether to take offense or take it as a compliment.

“Well, you look like a white fox.” Kanata glares him out of existence.

“You look like a needlefish with glasses! You were the tallest boy in our class in middle school, but now you’re the shortest!” _I’m 3rd shortest. There’s a big difference._ “Even I’m taller than you.” _Just barely._

“Just so you know, this body is only temporary. Once my Katsumi genes really activate, you won’t be able to keep your hands off me! Papa didn’t start growing until he was 15 because he never drank milk. So Jii-san had to find a way to secretly cook all of his meals with milk and then he said eventually one night he went to sleep a child and woke up a giant. His pajama shirt became a bra and his pants became underwear.” Kanata laughs so hard he snorts. _I love Papa-san’s stories. They’re always so funny._

Kanata loops his arm around Kouji’s with a happy smile, “You just took my virginity, Kou-chan.” _It feels more natural to call him Kou-chan._ “And we’re not married yet. What should I do?” Kouji springs up, giving actual thought to that fact, too serious and gullible for his own good. “No one’ll want to marry me now.”

“That’s true… How about this? If you’re still a spinster by 35, I guess I’ll take one for the team. I’ll even sign a legal contract that says just that.” _Take one for the team, he says. I wanted you to say something romantic. Being with me is taking one for the team?_ Kanata decides it’s about time to end this teasing streak with a devious ploy.

He rolls off and cocoons himself away from the Alpha, his shoulders shaking from bawling, or at least believably pretending to be. Kouji fidgets in bewilderment. _He’s crying?!_ “I gave myself to you. I showed you everything about me and opened my heart and body to you. But even after having sex with me, I’m still just an ugly cow!” _No, no!_ He frets and tries cajoling, “I thought I had a special place in your heart, but I was wrong. I’m easily replaceable. You were the one who approached me first, and even proposed to me.” _Kan-chan, you’re my most special person!_  “So what if it was so long ago? I take that promise to heart. You probably forgot all about it. It didn’t even mean anything to you,  or maybe you laugh at me behind my back for being so stupid.” _I don’t! I’ve never forgotten about that promise._ “I feel used and abused. I have nothing to look forward to except waiting for the day you discard me for someone beautiful, more intelligent, and easy to deal with.”

Kouji tries to flip him around but Kanata doesn’t budge, “Kan-chan, that’s not true! Whether it’s in the present or the future, I could never find anyone to replace you. I’m only playing around.” _Well, you play too much. That’s how you got yourself in this situation._ Total passion overcomes him seeing that Kanata’s pretend sob spells do not recede behind his quavering hands. Although the shaking is caused by silenced coy snickering, not tears. “I’ve never once thought you were ugly! Not even one single time! That’s the reason my eyes became bad, because I kept staring at you like an idiot and bumping into things.” _I feel bad for testing him like this but… I’ll keep this up for a bit longer._ _All these sweet compliment,s I’m going to save them in my special memory vault. I’ll never forget them._ “How could I have been only using you to get sex? There’s nothing I wanted more all these years than to just kiss you. I thought I could die happy with just one kiss! But then I started wanting more, like feeling your body and being inside you. I’ve always, always wanted you. No one else but you!”

“But you said you could find someone better without having to look far.”

Kouji tries to kiss him, Kanata turns his head, “I could search the whole wide world and never find someone as gorgeous, funny, and smart as you.”

“You’d dump me if I put on weight.”

Kouji tries to pull the listless blonde up, he falls back down like a brick of hardened cement. “Put on as much as you want, I’ll never leave you.” _Kan-chan~ Come on, please don’t be like this._

“You didn’t care when Momo kissed me because you don’t really love me.”

“I didn’t get jealous because I was confident that even if he stole your first kiss, I could do it way better than him!” _I’ve always considered my first kiss to be with you, though. And truthfully, Momo’s tongue felt like a slimy slug being jammed down my throat. Compared to how Kou-chan made me want to kiss him forever, Momo didn’t have a shred of idea what he was doing._

“Tell me more about how much I mean to you.”

“Everything I do has something to do with Kan-chan as the main reason. If I get smarter it’s only because Kan-chan likes smart guys. When I’m sad, it’s because I did something stupid to make Kan-chan mad at me. You’re the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing before I go to sleep. If that’s not head over heels, I don’t know what is. That’s why… you can keep holding onto that promise. All this time I’ve been considering us practically married anyways. I mean, besides living together and mating, aren’t we already like a married couple? Unless I’m with Isanami Kanata, there’s no meaning to life.” _How can you stay mad at someone who says you’re the reason the sun rises and sets! This Katsumi Romanticist III is trying to kill me with a heart attack._

Kanata tentatively peeks between the cracks of his fingers with the reddest shade he’s been his whole life. “You swear it?”

Kouji resolutely salutes with his fist to his heart, “I swear it on my life! I’ll sign on it, stamp it, tattoo it on myself, or even write it in blood.”

Kanata’s misty eyes and unsubtle ripe tomato red tint in full bloom across his lovesick countenance can be seen from behind the pillow he holds to his face, “Then say it again and seal it right here.” His rouge lips make a trembling heartwarming kissy face, Kouji moves impatiently to seal the deal. Kanata warns him before he stamps his name to the contract, “I have a great memory, just so you know. You’re sealing a promise to last from now til the end of time with a kiss. I’m going to remind you of it every year on this day so that you’ll never forget. This is the second promise you’ve made to me; be sure to keep in mind I’m going to strictly hold you to them.”

Kouji accompanies him under the pillow, his hands gently settle on holding Kanata by the neck, looking dead into his tender blue eyes baring everything before he signs the pact of a lifetime, “Unless I’m with Isanami Kanata, there’s no meaning to life.” The chaste kiss awakens a violent cyclone fueled by obsessive love in combination with saccharine vows not yet spoken, not _needed_ to be spoken. And he need only gaze back in those beautiful blue skies to hear them speak the truest truths.

They lay to their sides facing each other, saying everything by saying nothing. “Kou-chan, I can hear it from here.” Kouji stabilizes his heart, instructions to return to calm state are disobeyed.

He moves closer to see the high-quality resolution of the beautiful blues. “Just ignore it. It does that sometimes.”

Kanata tucks his dark hair behind his ear, “Can you hear mine?” Kouji concentrates to pick up an unstable beat. Thump t-thump t-thump thump. _I can hear it._ His soulmate moves close enough that Kanata can count each individual freckle. Their noses stay connected. “Kouji, do you feel like you've just become a man now?”

“I feel like I’m worthy of loving you now that I can give you the same things a man can… so I don’t feel like a boy anymore, in that sense.” The three jewels he mouths are ones Kanata knows very well, learned from the story of how their parents fell in love, now those dear syllables belong to him. They speak his name, tell him of his worth, his beauty, all that he is and will be that makes him worthy of receiving love’s full payment from one special person. _I. Love. You._  Kanata enunciates the confession back to him, one after the other. From Kouji to Kanata, from Kanata to Kouji. He holds his pale hand up as a mirror, waiting for its predestined pair to grasp it and intertwine their souls. Kouji shoots a cupid’s arrow through the heart shaped hand gesture. They fall asleep in this position with their legs vined together.

When they wake up from their few hours of sleep, twice as much erupting passion from the night previous overcomes them. They indulge in each other. Two nights spent attempting to douse out the roaring flames of love give way to welcome a fresh sunny chirping Sunday morning.

 _My waist feels heavy. We spent the whole weekend having sex! And I was the one who kept pushing for more too!_ Kouji gets his clothes on and double checks he has everything. Kanata watches the slender body so capable and naturally attuned to satisfying his needs with a single touch move from tying his shoelaces to grabbing his hoodie to stopping in the doorway. He sees him out with the blankets wrapped around his naked and sore body in toga fashion, “I’ll call you when I get home.” _I still wanted to be together a bit longer, but my parents will be coming home soon._ Kanata puckers his lips for the bye kiss. “Well, that’s all. See ya.”

He reminds with an irritated insincere smile, “Kou-chan, aren’t you forgetting something!” _Don’t you dare ignore me when I’m telling you to kiss me._ ‘Nope, I have everything. Bye.’ And the door closes. Blonde eyebrows become drawn together to a singular line. Kanata stomps heavy feet past the doorway, so mad that he chucks his Angry Birds pillow at the closed door. _All lovey-dovey one minute, being an asshole the next! I’m going to give him a large piece of my mind next time._ Dramatically, the cover is tossed away and he gets dressed with general scans of his bedroom littered with used condoms, lube handprints, and stained bedsheets.

The knocking on the door temporarily alleviates his dissatisfaction, most likely his parents. He scowls with flare seeing who it is, “What did you forget?” _Who answers the door in their underwear?_ Kanata’s slender waist is encircled in the unwelcome Alpha’s arms, a deep kiss taken and given just the way he likes, building heat rises first from his cheeks then flows to his lower body. “You should’ve done that earlier.” The angrier he tries to sound the more hopelessly in love it comes out.

“Turn around.” _What for?_ He still complies. Kouji bends down on his knees and holds his hips in place. _What is he doing back there?_ Kanata lets him press a hard kiss into the small of his back, rising up with the biggest and happiest smile as if he’s just done something he’s wanted to do all his life. “There, now I have everything.”

Kanata’s hand idly traces the shape of full pouty lips branded on his lower back. “What did that kiss mean?”

He chuckles softly as he heads out the door. “It’s a secret. See you tomorrow.” The door closes for good this time.

Maki grumbles waiting in the car, pissed for exactly two reasons. One, for having to deal with a son as forgetful as the father telling him to go back after driving for 5 minutes and second, for having to act as a chaperone on a Sunday morning. Just because his current relationship drama makes him more available doesn’t mean the eccentric leader can abuse his power. Maki drives off, occasionally looking through the mirror at the freckled teen holding a swooning hand to his forehead lying on the back seat as if to check for fever. _There’s no normal person in that family. Except maybe for Norin. But he must also be strange to a certain degree for marrying that curly haired tyrant._

“Maki-san, how much time has passed? I don’t want to call too soon.” _Like legitimately 30 seconds. Talk about calling too soon. Why are you asking when you’re already calling him._ “Kan-chan~ I’m 10 feet away from your house.” _I seriously can’t tell if they’re smart or stupid. Doesn’t he ever get tired of being so crazy over Kana-chan. If me and Haru spent that much time together, we’d annoy the living shit out of each other._

Monday morning.

The back of shaggy black hair getting settled in his seat.   _Zero defense. Too easy._ Kanata smirks in his hand, stealthily sneaking up from behind with a dangerous cleaver held up like a guillotine that crashes down on Kouji’s head in a splitting hard karate chop. “Why do you always do that?!” He asks holding his aching head. _You have no reflexes, Kou-chan._ “Good morning, Kan-chan~” _Hi, Kou-chan._ The feeling of embarrassment after everything they did to each other takes a couple minutes to pass. The other students walk past the giggling, eskimo kissing boys rubbing their noses and lips together and slump lifelessly in their seats to begin the dreary monday.

An unsettling yell of Kouji’s surname ruins the romance. “Get your things. You’re moving to the special classes.” _Eh? No way~ I don’t want Kou-chan to go. I don’t want to spend only one year of high school together!_

The teacher has to put in some real muscle to peel off the histrionic boy clinging to the doorway for dear life, “No, I don’t want to leave Kan-chan! Kan-chan, don’t let them take me! They’re trying to separate us!” Another teacher from the next classroom over joins for assistance and still loses against the power of love, “I’ll write and text and call everyday!”

Kanata holds out his wistful hand unable to melodramatically reach the Alpha’s, “Kou-chan! Don’t kiss or have sex with anyone else! I’ll never talk to you again if you do.” Momotaro joins the over dramatic actors adding amusement to what _was_ a drab start to the day. His muscular hand wraps around Kanata provocatively. He makes a big show out of it too, telling him ‘Don’t worry, Princess. I’ll take real good care of Kanata for you,’ to drag a look of fierce discontent from the freckled boy.

Kanata shoves the sweaty arm off, feeling sick remembering the slimy kiss. _Kou-chan, who’s going to protect me if you’re not here?_ Four more teachers combine their strength to unhinge his claws from the door, Kouji doesn’t give up the fight for love. “Momo-kun, get away from Kan-chan! He said you kiss like a troll.” Kanata nods in confirmation when Momotarou glances down at him. “Momo-kun is a virgin! Virgin boy! Cherry!” Momotaro stutters in hasty explanation to fabricate numbers and names in his laid list but turns the shade of a cherry. Ridicules and jeers pass around the classroom. _Momo is a virgin?_ Kouji’s voice comes from far off in the distance where he is getting dragged down the corridor by the army of teachers to his new class which is only three floors above for all the drama it was worth. “Kan-chan, let’s run away together! I’ll be Romeo and you’ll be…”

Thursday

Kanata chances a visit to the official Nerds’ classroom during lunch break. Standing in the doorway, the horrifying scene the uncomfortable blonde witnesses is this: the nerds are having some sort of contest of intelligence. Kouji and two other players are standing in front of a guy who symbolizes everything stereotypical of a nerd’s appearance holding a dry erase board with some complex equation written on it. “The prize this time is this brand new abacus! It glows in the dark and not only that… it comes as a pair with these polished silver metal Newton’s cradle!” he says as he holds up the sparkling freshly intriguing calculating and physics instruments.

After she traces her fingers over the interesting prize, the only girl in the clique of friendly boys holds her hand out feeling the air toward Kouji with excitement, “Kouji-kun, I want them! Win them for me!” _He’s already King of the Nerds. How did he get so popular? They all love him._ Kouji smirks arrogantly and gets in position to run to the board with his blue dry erase marker.

The board with the new equation is held to the guy’s chest so that they can’t peek until contestants have prepared themselves,  “Are you ready? Here comes the problem…...Now!” He flips it around and they only get 10 seconds to process the problem and dash to the board to solve it working side-by-side to see who will answer both accurately and quickest to earn the geeky prizes. While the other contestants have to run back to see the problem again, Kouji has it memorized and solved before they even start working on it.

All of them lose their minds with gasping and cheering in total awe. “He didn’t even give us a chance.” The nerds are throwing whatever numbers they can think  of, whether real or imaginary, at Kouji as he calculates them without stopping to think or asking for repetition. “He’s like a human calculator!” He shows off by speaking in 1s and 0s, “Now he’s talking using Binary Code! Is there anything you don’t know?”

“Morse Code.” They snort and snicker at the geeky joke then calculate the probability that he will learn Morse code sometime soon. “I don’t know Braille.” The cute blind girl in his class is who he directs this to. “I want to learn it.” She blushes a bit, her friends have described the guy as way too hot to be a nerd, a real Mr. Handsome in the flesh. Going off the occasional times Kouji gladly lets her trace her fingers to map his facial features and the consistent descriptions, her heart thumps faster. He puts the prizes he won for her in her lap, “I won them just for you.” She blushes like a maiden in love.

One of his new friends shrieks like a tortured victim when he sees the put-off blonde shadow in the doorway, “W-We’re not doing your homework! You’ll have to come back after school.” Kanata’s face deadpans even further. _That’s not what I…_ They scurry back along with their fears of being bullied and getting their intelligence taken advantage of. He trips on a chair leg.

Kouji lights up like a Christmas tree, “Kan-chan~!” Their eyebrows raise in synch. The Alpha teen makes a heart with his fingers, Kanata makes the bow and arrow and shoots imaginary arrows through the center like a true marksman. _Kouji-kun’s friend?_ “Kan-chan is my fiance.” _Wow! He’s so cool, dating someone. But if he’s dating then that must mean they…_

They swarm him like hornets, “Have you had sex yet?!” The blind girl abashedly squeals at the directness of the answer being the only female Omega in a crowd of Alphas. Kouji nods his head. _He’s our hero!_  The hornet’s nest swallows him whole, lighting his ears abuzz with questions, “How did it feel?! Tell us! Share your experience with us. Hurry, give us all the details!”

Kouji gets on his _I’m going to go on a bragging spree_ look which consists of chest puffed up swollen with air and nose rubbing which Kanata recognizes immediately and shuts down. “Kou-chan, don’t you want to eat together?” _It’s embarrassing for me if you go around telling everyone, needlefish!_ Kouji catches up to the blushing boy. _They don’t all have to know._ “So those are your new friends? The geek squad?”

Kouji turns on him defensively, “They’re not geeks! We’re too cool to be geeks.” He ignores Kanata’s doubtful pitying glower. A long arm interjects in between them and wraps around the Omega. The easygoing mood changes into unfriendliness toward the tall built captain of the track team. _Grr._ “What do you want?!” Kanata slides out of his grasp and switches sides to be closer to Kouji.

“Do I need your permission to eat lunch with my friend, Princess?” Kouji smacks away his long outstretched hands looping around Kanata past him. “Me and Kanata have been friends since way before you came along. Right, Kanata?” The blonde snubs his comment and loops his arm around Kouji’s. Taking the rejection harshly, he abruptly stops in front of his competition, causing the shorter boy to bump into him, then whips off the glasses before Kouji can do anything to stop him. A quick twitch in his right hand inherited from his father. Momo misses the warning sign of incoming danger.

He holds them up high out of his reach hollering taunts and derisions, “Momo-kun! Give them back!”

Momo laughs and stands higher, “Come get them. Are you sure you’re an Alpha? You look and act nothing like an Alpha. You’re probably a Beta. Maybe even an Omega!” The inner voice of his instincts gives a disturbing command new to his entire being, the order first inaudible then turning into a terrifyingly loud shriek inside his mind. _...Ill._ The switch flips. Blurred vision clouds rationality. _...Ill._ His eyes leave him astray, green irises catch on fire. Momotaro doesn’t dodge the homicidal clamps aggressively digged into his shirt in time. The pacifist becomes utterly unrecognizable to him, no mockery drops from the taller Alpha’s egocentric person. _Kill._ Flustered honey brown eyes meet livid balls of fire dead center. A destructive punch flashes before his eyes and every part of his consciousness knows that he won’t dodge it in time. For the first time in his life, he feels an emotion he never thought the nonviolent, overly-intelligent, weak freckled boy would elicit from him. _Kill him._

Absolute terror.

The frightened blonde bystander intervenes, pushing past the uncomfortable icy chill also rushing down his spine at the unpredictability of the rash personality flip that swapped prey for predator. “Stop!” Kanata gets the glasses from the Alpha rooted in place by fear slightly trembling from the strong punch undelivered. He gives back the cause of the destructive tension that would have broken dangerously free if it had gone on for a second later. “Momo, leave us alone! Go find someone else to bully, you musclehead! Come on, Kou-chan! Just forget about that dumb jock,” he says as he drags with him the boy also struggling to grasp the underlying monster almost unleashed in that moment, definitely scaring Momo and more so Kanata but most of all Kouji who had lost all mental clarity other than the pressuring homicidal instruction. Kanata looks him over, glad that the new fierce persona that had overcome his lover is now extinguished. “Kou-chan, what was that? You know you can’t fight.”

Kouji laughs awkwardly while putting his glasses back on, “Of course not. I was just trying to scare him a bit.” Minori is the one to greet him when he slams open the door in total alarm, sweat drips down his forehead and his eyes crinkle with stress. “Where’s Papa?” jumbled together comes rushed out in an out of breath frenzy as if it took everything in him to escape being chased all the way from school to home. Minori has to take a second to process the barely comprehensible question, answering with a spooked finger to the study.

Takayuki is upstairs clacking away on his laptop completing some work when he is broken out of concentration by the door quickly opened then loudly closed. _What’s he in such a blind panic for?_ “Slow down there, buddy. Who are you running from?” His son takes a seat across him, slamming urgent fists on the table to demand undivided attention be devoted to him. Takayuki continues smiling while the unathletic frame still yet to catch his breath hilariously continues huffing and puffing and clouding up his laptop screen. _I’ve never seen someone so young this out of shape._

“Papa, when you were growing up, did you have any… disturbing thoughts occur to you?”

He puts on his naughty smirk, “Ooh! Are we talking about dirty thoughts? You perv, tell me what you were imagining.”

Kouji slams his self-absorbed hand down again, “Not those kind of thoughts!” _You’re the only perv here._ “I mean… violent thoughts.”

Takayuki closes his electronic device with total seriousness. He cups his chin in reminiscence, first in mid process of opening his mouth to impart some jewel of knowledge and then changing his mind. Instead leaning forward to look his son in the eyes. In level cool his voice delivers, “Those are normal. Just learn to ignore them and they won’t be any problem.” _So he had them too?!_ Kouji feels relief knowing that he wasn’t all alone in the world for having abnormal straying instincts, relief that he has someone who has gone through the struggles before him guiding his insecurities. “Listen, how bad do those fevers get?” _Uh, normal?_  “Does it ever feel like your insides are being melted?” _No, not that bad._ “Once they get that bad, your personality might change. Not like a drastic change or anything, but you may not exactly be the same. You won’t notice it but we will.”

The teen slumps in the chair to speed up his brain’s intake of info. “Should I be scared? I feel like I should be very scared. Never mind, I’m actually already really scared!”

Takayuki turns his laptop back on to get back to his work with deep chuckles, “It’s not that scary, don’t make a big deal out of it.  They eventually go away by themselves. As long as you don’t turn into a murderer, I don’t mind whatever you want to become.” He aligns his lighter to the cigarette between his lips.

Kouji imitates the evil smirk, “So I can be anything besides a murderer? Can I be a conman?”

Takayuki huffs out smoke at the screen, “Don’t get smart. You know what I mean, as long as you don’t turn into a thief, murderer, rapist, swindler, or just Maki in general, we’re good.”

Kouji mocks being in deep thought, playfully looking to test his father, “What about a-?”

Takayuki answers the playfulness with a pretend glare over the laptop, “Listen! If you have to stop and think, ‘Would Papa and Daddy approve of this?’ Then you know it’s not something you should be partaking in because that's the sound of your clear conscience being tainted. Now get out and shut the door. And next time, knock please.”

He scrapes in his chairs laughing a bit too hard, “Yes, sir.” Takayuki rubs his sore temples after the particularly loud disturbance exits. _God, how did they grow up to be such huge pains in the ass? One loves to shoot off his mouth and the other gets annoyingly over dramatic about anything pertaining to Kan-chan. I only have Little Pea left. I really hope he never ever grows up. But that boy might finally start acting like an Alpha by…_ Minori’s warm arms wrapping around him in the chair from behind bring the full smile back. _Probably 16. Hurry and grow your fangs, soldier boy. So that I can break them right off._

Minori soothingly kisses him on the temple, “What did he want to talk about? He seemed a bit shook up about something.”

Takayuki inhales the heady scent of lavender filling the room, feeling so at home and relaxed. “Something about shamelessly being unable to stop having pervy fantasies about Kan-chan.”

“Is that really what you talked about?” _No._ Minori reclines with a put-off face, “Disgusting.”

The untruthful Alpha types slowly on the keyboard, putting no focus into getting back to his task at hand, “That’s what I said. How could he expect me to have advice for him on such disgusting topics, right? I told him, ‘Your old Papa here stayed a virgin until he was 25. He knew close to nothing about sex until he met Daddy.’” Minori doubles over in laughter. _You’re such a liar! What a boldfaced claim. “_ You won’t believe this, but I caught him masturbating once, but you’re not supposed to know.”

“I am disgusted. You should have… I don’t know, told him something. But then if you tell them not to do something, they do it even more.” The Alpha laughs quietly under his breath while Minori goes on with suggesting to take the lock off his door and doing weekly checks of his room. The  cigarette is rubbed out in the ashtray,  “You’re supposed to cut down.”

Takayuki moves to retrieve his crushed stub, “This is only my first one.”

Minori tilts his head back up to look into his disbelieving stern eyes. “I know it’s not. I want you to live a long, long life with me and the kids.” He pulls the good old puppy eyes on him, “I’m not telling you to quit cold turkey, but we are going to eventually work toward quitting smoking forever. No pressure.” _Adding no pressure in there pressures me._ “You don’t love me enough to quit for me?” The Alpha starts sweating at the pendulum of tension swinging in the air.

He puts back the stub feeling immense guilt pangs vibrating in the core of his heart, “Stop treating me like an old man. I’m probably more likely to die of a car crash than smoking. I’ll quit in 5 years’ time.”

Minori turns up the crank on his cuteness, “It’s never too late to start. I’m just trying to keep you healthy. No pressure.” I’m hearing ‘All pressure’ instead of no pressure. _You’re definitely trying to pressure me._ “I reckon you wouldn’t want to be wheezing and hooked up to an oxygen tank for Sei-chan’s wedding, right? No. Pressure. And what about holding your grandkids? You won’t have strength for it if just occasional bending burns your lungs. Feeling the pressure yet?”

Takayuki voluntarily hands over his entire carton to the waiting triumphant palm successful in pressuring him, “We’re acting like an old married couple.” _I don’t even know what mind trick he used on me! He’s gotten to be a master at controlling the entire family to do everything he wants, no sweat._

He flips his long bangs with a confident grin, “We _are_ an old married couple. You have to listen to me too because I’m honestly trying to look out for what’s in your best interest. The point of being married is to have someone to constantly nag you so that you’ll stay alive much longer than you would’ve single, didn’t you know that?”

Takayuki turns back to his unfinished tasks, tapping the keyboards with irritation, not knowing what to be irritated at but still finding comfort in getting accustomed to the warm feeling of having his better half looking out for him. “I see now why one partner always dies an average of ten years before the other. Because they get nagged to death or they just purposely die to escape the nagging.”

Minori thumps him in the chest hard, “I don’t care much for your attitude. The couch’s all yours tonight, darling. Have fun.” _He got in the last say and I’m still in the doghouse. Also, I have to leave for a 2-night business trip after tomorrow so I really wanted to have sex tonight but I guess that option is off the table._ Random characters and letters forming nonsensical and nonexistent words from the trackpad being slammed by Takayuki’s head out of utmost frustration fill the bright screen. _If this sexual frustration keeps building up like this, my balls are going to implode!_

Sunday

The autolock lets in the owner of the house back from his short trip but the family is doing their own things so there’s no one to greet him. Little Pea who is either sleeping soundly anywhere he finds a nice place for an impromptu nap or clinging to Yuji like skin to flesh at this time is doing the former. The angelic sleeping figure remains unaware of his father suppressing aww’s at the thumb sucking curled up ball on his lime green cushion bed in the family room. Nor does he notice the phone camera flashing more than ten times. _He’s so cute. My soul is purified. Looking at only Alphas for two days, my little angel is a sight for sore eyes._ Rough hands pat the auburn hair of the boy shifting in sleep.

Tsuyoshi mouths and points to his phone, “Kashira, send me that picture too.”Takayuki ignores him, giving only an unamused glare. Maki ruins the moment as is his favorite activity, “He’s only going to stay cute for now. You won’t be looking at him like that when he brings some disappointing failed rockstar douche home.”

Taking personal offense to that, Takayuki shoves the subordinate looking roughed up and bloody in some parts and tender with livid bruises that appear to have been made less than 30 minutes ago. “My son has high standards! He’s only going to get married to either a prince, king, or emperor.”

Maki adjusts the temples of the sunglasses to see if they were cracked, “Every parent thinks that. But what do their kids really fall for? Some abusive tatted up junkie who dyes his hair strange colors and has ‘made many mistakes in life but is trying to find himself.’ He’s also most likely failed at an acting career and is working toward establishing a singing career. He’s going to call you dude or man in every sentence. Imagine someone like that climbing all over your son.”

Takayuki watches the peaceful sleep of the innocent, thumb-sucking and drooling, _trying_ to imagine his worst nightmares in bright daylight. But he cannot conjure up such tyranny. _If Little Pea ever fell for trash like that, I’d string that fucker upside down and drown him naked with cement blocks tied to his feet. My little angel is going to stay a virgin until he’s 30, I’m going to lock him up and make sure of that. No junkies, no tatted douches, no dirty Alpha I don’t approve of is going to get his filthy hands on him. I’m going to arrange a wedding with a nice boy from a good family; someone clean who deserves him and will take good care of him._ Takeo and Tsuyoshi take advantage of Takayuki lost deeply in thought to poke the chubby cheeks, Takayuki immediately slaps their hands so hard they turn blue instead of red, “Hey! Don’t touch him! I don’t want your evil beady eyes on my boy. I see how you’re looking at him and frankly, I got a problem with it!”

Maki brushes invisible dust off his hands at the well done job of planting seeds of doubt in the overprotective Takayuki’s mind. The brothers remain hurt at the sting of the insulting words but mainly the slaps on their hands. While leading the congregation to the living room, he catches sight of a vision that immobilizes his motor control. Staring at his mate in slim fit short sleeve skinny denim knee-high short overalls in black with loose hair gently kissed by the sun holding onto the polished wood railing going upstairs. “Kash-!” Takaeo tries to warn him of the incoming collision with the wall but to no avail. Takayuki hits hard, his nose immediately starts dripping blood at his feet.

 _What was that?_ Minori forgoes heading upstairs and crouches beside the squatting bleeding man with intrigued snickers, “There are other ways to announce your return besides almost breaking your nose. Welcome back.”

Red blood drip drops stains on the fresh snow white carpet flooring. “I’m home.”

“Now tell me, how did this happen? You weren’t looking where you were heading again?” _What is this man doing?_

Takayuki holds his profusely bleeding nose in place, “I couldn’t stop looking. You look nice today.” The three subordinates clamp their mouths shut fast but the intense laughter rolls out due to one particular unusual part of their boss’ compliment: the embarrassing voice crack. _His voice cracked like a little girl! We all heard it!_

The married couple return to the casual conversation after Takayuki clears his throat. Minori tries to hold in his laughter too but like the younger Alphas, fails. “Only today?”

Takayuki keeps his eyes away from the devious alluring hazels, “No, you dress nice everyday. Just today… you look ridiculously sexy… because you’re showing off skin… and that kind of thing. I really like it.” _So much he imprinted his face in the wall._ “I actually bought those clothes a while ago too, but you never wore them because you always said…”

“That they wouldn’t suit me.” _They’re finishing each other’s sentences._ “I was feeling a bit more confident than usual today so I thought why not? I thought maybe I wouldn’t fit in them anymore, but surprisingly they’re pretty stretchy.” Minori consciously runs a drifting soft palm over his smooth bare legs, unused to the fresh air licking the dispersion of light freckles always hidden under his Kimonos. _They’re on his legs too?_ “I don’t really like showing off my body though. It draws uncomfortable gawks and stares.” _He has really nice legs_ , Tsuyoshi thinks. The staring younger men turn away as the Omega’s smiling eyes turn to them.  Takayuki invites himself to grope the smooth legs as well. “Geez, how long is your nose going to bleed for? Let’s sit you down.”

He tilts his head up sitting on the couch, the unstopping blood dyes the tissue red. Takayuki stares intensely at one specific part while Minori has his back turned to get more tissues, worried about whether it’s actually broken or not. Meanwhile his men shake their heads, unsupportive of their leader indiscreetly checking Minori out. His mate takes the wet tissues and replaces them for dry ones, leaning his head back. _I can’t believe this. Every year, it seems like his maturity regresses._ Rough hands hover around the thin waist and settle for lower on his favorite part: that firm ass. Minori pulls the hands down, “I know where you’re heading with this so don’t even start.” Takayuki persistently places his molesting hands back on after the rejections. _He’s doing this on purpose. It’s almost stopped bleeding now, he can take care of it himself._

Minori huffs with a pointed glint in his angered eyes. _That’s only having the opposite effect, Nori._  Finding it hard to breath, the easily turned on man loosens his tie and defiantly tosses the crumpled fabric on the floor. “Stop throwing things around, I’m not your housekeeper,” he says as he bends down to pick it up anyway. Takayuki savors every second of the teasing body, the tight clothes putting his pert ass on display. _I’m sure I’ve got a spare chauffeur uniform somewhere in the back of the closet. We can have roleplay sex in one of the cars. That would be so hot! One of my fantasies come true._ His men’s simultaneous thoughts at this moment:   _I’m humiliated to be working for this man. You could at least try to be discreet._

Steps coming down from the stairs break Takayuki’s leering. “What’s wrong with Papa’s nose?” Yuji asks lazily as he stomps to the kitchen in his soft home slippers. He heads to the fridge, pausing to hear the answer after holding one cup of homemade pudding in his hand but several more that form obvious lumps in his pockets. “This is why you shouldn’t be texting and walking at the same time. I’m sure Daddy has told you that several times.”

Takayuki takes the small twisted tissue plugs absorbing the blood from his nose out, “He’s told _you_ that several times. I also wouldn’t be getting smart if I were you.”

He attempts to steal his haul upstairs by fooling his Daddy’s eyes, but Minori confiscates the treats. _Darn! I thought I got away with it._ “Why not? Should I be getting stupid with you then?”

Takayuki stares him down and then finally grins, “Because I know what you were doing in your room last night.”

The 11 year old digs his sweaty hands in his sweater pockets as dews of perspiration roll down his forehead, nervously “What do you mean?! I wasn’t doing anything. I really wasn’t doing anything! “

His father grins even wider with more bursting assertiveness, “No, I definitely saw you doing that thing.” Yuji starts blindly panicking and turning nowhere and everywhere at once, rushing up to the top of the steps, tumbling back down to the last, picking himself up and taking impossible goliath leaps six steps at a time. While the escape attempt, if it could even be called that, was the most hilarious thing any of them have seen, the funniest thing is that he left behind his pudding cup crushed by the tumble, its contents smeared on his butt. Minori covers Takayuki’s gaping mouth hollering with laughter to ask him what he was doing, “He really wasn’t doing anything. I just said that to scare him.”

Maki finishes writing his email on his phone and gets up to follow the still laughing brothers, “Boss, I just sent you my resignation letter. I quit.”

Takayuki purposely decides to ignore the melodramatic exaggeration over a little joke that happened before they reached home, “Maki, I still need you to finish that report for me!”

The younger Alpha’s permanently glaring features express extreme distaste behind his dark sunglasses to even talking to his archnemesis, “I just said I quit!” _So tomorrow then? What does he have to act like a fussy little girl for?_

A couple short hours later into the afternoon, Minori and the younger brothers are peering inside the living room and snorting at what they see. Kouji dips again for another push up that looks more as if he carries the weight of a washing machine on his back. His noodle arms go limp continuously, getting through only one-fourth of a push up before splatting on the floor like wet bundles of paper. _Why are they gathered there?_ Warm hands grab Seiji from the side, joining in on the spying and tolerating the lack of athleticism with a heavy heart. “What is that boy doing?”They lose their control as Takayuki goes in to instruct him on proper workout. _He’s so out of shape._

After being bent in position for a push up, Takayuki leads first as example. Kouji splats almost immediately. “Papa, I can’t.” _I wanted to get in shape because I’m tired of Kan-chan saying I’m more Beta than Alpha, but all of my muscles hurt._

Takayuki gives up after many more pathetic splats due to no upper arm muscle whatsoever on part of the teen. “This one is not mine,” he whispers to Minori. He decides to call the expert, a man who was a jacked workout beast in his younger days. Yoshiyuki gives his coat to Minori to be hung up. Takayuki watches as his lewd father secretly wraps his arm around the small of the Omega’s hips to kiss him on the cheek as greeting. He clears his throat but the two friends so lost in each other’s company ignore him until the third ahem. “Since when are you so close?”

Both shrug, “We’ve always been this close when you weren’t here.” Yoshiyuki chuckles at the slight hand twitching and purposely tightens his hold around Minori, “You’re not so small-minded to get jealous over a simple greeting, right Takayuki?” _Of course not_ . _But where are your hands wandering to, old man._ “So what’s the big emergency?” The sky outside behind Yoshiyuki is gloomy and threatens to rain. The smell of rain floats ominously around only the former boxer.

Seiji glomps to his grandfather’s knees, “Yuki! How could you just pass by me like I don’t matter?” Minori pulls the rude boy off him. Lately he’s begun calling Yoshiyuki by the same nickname that his namesake did an entire lifetime ago, playing at being a lovey-dovey married couple simply because they share the same name. _Sei-chan, call him Jii-san!_

Yoshiyuki plays along, not minding entertaining his youngest most spoiled grandson at all, “Ah, of course you matter. It’s just that I didn’t see you, Sei. Did you shrink?” He picks up the boy jumping up and down, wiggling his hips and acting cutesy in the older Alpha’s arms, meeting the crinkled eye smile with a sparkling youthful beam. Minori sighs again with frustration. Takayuki kneads his tense shoulders for him. _Just let them have fun._

Stumped. “No, boy, you’re doing it all wrong! Doesn’t your father teach you anything?” Not even Yoshiyuki knows how to help the teen with zero flexibility, stamina, or muscle endurance struggling with push ups, failing worse at sit ups, and not even close on anything else. “He needs a motivator. We should call Kana-chan over and see if he does better,’ he quietly diagnoses to himself while his son tries to not lose his temper showing him how to do it again. Minori stares at the seductive flex of biceps, the heavy sweat dripping off him, his straight posture… He turns away once he starts getting too turned on. Yoshiyuki pretends not to notice. _The amount of stifling sexual tension in here…_

Kanata enters as easily as if it were his own house. He enters the auto lock passcode and lets himself in to where the family is gathered still hollering over the laughingstock. Kouji wipes the sweat with a cool wet towel, “Who called Kanata?” Little Pea whips his head back lightning fast, already possessive over his brother. They all turn back thinking, _Who is Kanata?_  But Seiji is the one to yell it like a crazy ex- girlfriend.

Kanata points to himself, puzzled by their reaction and checks back to see if they’re talking about him or someone else because they’ve known him all these years. There’s no way every one of them except Minori would actually forget his actual name, is there? Remembering the goldfish memory span of the Katsumi boys, he answers his own question. He says in monotone, “I’m Kanata. Isanami Kanata.”

Yuji nonverbally asks if he’s serious, “Aren’t you Kan-chan?” _They caught me so off guard. Kan-chan is just a nickname. I’ve been coming here since I was 7. How don’t you guys remember something so important? What exactly did they think my name is? They have got to be playing me._ “How long have you been Kanata?” _Since I was born! It’s not like I changed it last night._ Out of all the Katsumi boys, none of them knew what Kan-chan was a short form of. Minori thumps his fist on Takayuki’s upper arm and drags away the gawking brothers who just learned something new today. _My feelings are hurt._

Seiji resists the pull, “Wait. Why is Kou-nii calling you Kanata?” The family pauses with curiosity.

Kanata blushes, “If he wants to, he can, and I can call him Kouji too.” The married couple exchange I told you looks, figuring it out after he came home smelling like he used a whole bottle of body wash to overcompensate for the smell of sex. Yoshiyuki wolf whistles. Pea and Pod remain confused about the implications. Kanata continues blushing while under the family’s microscope spotlight, Kouji does nothing to help on part of being too out of breath from doing nothing. _Stop asking so many questions. You made Kan-chan say something embarrassing._

Takayuki tousles his hair into a giant bird’s mess with booming laughter. Minori saunters away from the idiotic bragging fest, the chest bumping, the hooting and hollering, “Yep! That’s my boy! We need to celebrate tonight. Have I ever taught you the charm for…” _Idiot father, idiot son._ The nauseated Omega leaves taking Yuji and Seiji with him before the end of the sentence, surely a conclusion as nonsensical as the the rest of their stupidity. _You said you wanted to cook together so get to the kitchen. Sei-chan was about to start on his “You can’t call Kou-nii by his name! Kou-nii loves me the most. He doesn’t even like you” rant. We need to find a way to cure his brother complex._ The two teens left alone warm up the room with their blushes, recalling satisfying their intense sexual desires together.

Minori ties his apron while reading the cook book. Takayuki appears behind him to tie it for him. Minori tenses a bit, hoping that the assistance isn’t just a ploy to take advantage of the fact they’re momentarily alone. His wandering hands perversely slip inside his overalls, rubbing and kneading his thighs. The Omega’s hands push him away but he becomes more aggressive, guiding his fingers inside his underwear. Minori slaps his hand off and shoves him backwards, not amused. The older man slams his arm on the wall, blocking his passage, “I want to just rip these clothes off, throw you down and- !” Minori covers his mouth.

He says as he puts his guard up, “That doesn’t excuse feeling me up in the hallway in broad daylight.” Takayuki bites his neck, reaching for the hair tie keeping the long hair in place, “Don’t do that. I don’t have time to play around with you. Perhaps occupying your mind with more concerning matters will help.” _Ugh! Prude!_ Takayuki slams down his other hand, roughly kissing him and grinding against the resisting Omega, not caring if the kids happen to walk by. Minori has had enough. Takayuki finds himself groaning in pain sliding down on the wall holding the unpleasant part Minori shoved his knee into.

Yoshiyuki goes here and there, continuously coming back to point at Takayuki and announce his presence with a shit-eating grin and a “Don’t mind me. Minding my own business. Just an old man passing by. I didn’t see anything.” He heads left saying the same thing, comes back heading right still saying “Don’t mind me.” _I’m glad you’re enjoying my suffering. As if blue balls wasn’t enough, I got kicked there._ Yoshiyuki follows close behind chortling as his son hobbles to his office to occupy his mind, “Takayuki, I’ve never seen you so frustrated before,” said with false sincerity.

Takayuki types fast but complains faster, “Of course I’m frustrated! Do you know how long I’ve gone without sex? Between work piling up and finding time for it, sex seems to be getting out of the question.. I don’t want us to become that old married couple that has sex once every year! No way!” _Woah, I’m not your therapist. I didn’t ask for the full details, boy. Once he starts whinging, he never stops. I might as well take a seat._ “All I want is sex three times a week! Is that a lot to ask for?” _That’s a lot, especially when you have kids…_ “I can settle for twice a week, but I don’t agree to once a month!” _You’re asking for too much, kid. He has to take care of three boys’ needs and yours on top of all that too?_ He takes a deep exhale after the whine session, Yoshiyuki can’t help but smile at how the predictable fundamental personality traits of his son have barely changed since childhood.

“So what are you clacking away on?” _All those papers on his desk must mean he’s building something again. With all his companies and establishments and businesses, just how much money does he make?_

“Stock report. The guy who usually does it for me is on strike.” Yoshiyuki blinks slowly. _It’s probably Kurokawa._ “Just because I threw him out of a moving car in busy traffic for pissing me off, he sends me a resignation email.” _...There’d be something wrong with him if he didn’t. I’m surprised he even put up with you for this long. Anybody else would’ve ran for the hills once they saw your head is a little off. You’re the sneakiest most manipulative bastard I know, and I know firsthand where you get it from._ “He’ll be upset for a week or two but he’ll be back. Either he’s a masochist or I’m a sadist, but in the end we work best together. I just wish he didn’t make me homicidal with every little thing he says.”

Yoshiyuki’s lively chuckles fill the room, “He’s your brother.” Busy fingers take a break, eyebrows raise. “You act like brothers. Always getting on each other’s nerves, fighting over everything, but you still joke around together.” _Ha! We can’t even stand each other. His attitude toward me has gotten worse._ “You always wanted a sibling, right?”

“I wanted a cute sister. Who would want Maki for a brother? Not even Maki’s little brother wanted him for a brother.” _Whatever you say, chief._ Takayuki scrutinizes his progenitor, _Hm?_  “Seriously, do you ever age? You must’ve stolen the secret elixir for youth or something. You look the exact same every damn time I see you. Who would’ve thought you’re actually almost in your 70’s!” _Well, I do get that a lot._ “You could pass for being in your 40’s.” Yoshiyuki gives a loud guttural laugh, _If I look that young, then you should be in middle school._ “How’s the restaurant doing?” His new independently owned restaurant opened since he retired about 8 years ago. _Business is good._ Takayuki finishes up the last bits. “Since when are you and Minori so close?” _He’s just been dying to ask that._ “He lets you touch him?”

Yoshiyuki smirks nefariously, “Yep. In many places.” _Dirty geezer._ Yoshiyuki pushes further seeing the tell-tale signs of jealous twitching start in his hand. “We even Facetime in the shower. When you’re gone away on your business trips I keep him company for you. No worries, right son?” _I never said I was worried._  “And he sends me nudes too.” _He wouldn’t do that._ Although he knows Minori would never do that, his curiosity combined with unfulfilled sexual desires urge him to want to peek at the pictures being flipped through on the phone screen. “Ooh, this one’s too risque for you. R-18!” _There’s no way he would send nudes…_ “Nice~ In this one he’s posing on a car.” Takayuki leaps across the table and snatches the phone with only the disappointing lock screen. Yoshiyuki grabs a paper bag out of his pocket and hyperventilates into it to control his breathing. “I can’t believe you fell for it! Were you really expecting to see naked pictures?” Takayuki stares at nothing in particular. Just not at Yoshiyuki. _I wasn’t._ “Your responses are so honest. First it was ‘Nudies and cigs’ and now this.”

Takayuki throws him his car keys he forgot in the entryway while he takes a hidden carton of cigarettes out. “So you can’t remember where you put your car keys but you can remember something I said when I was 16?” _Because you were so honest about it._ He pats himself down, coming up empty for his lighter. Now it’s Yoshiyuki’s turn to put him on the hot seat. He throws his son the lighter he left behind in the other room. Takayuki smiles catching his returned item, “Crap. Just like always. What I forget you find and vice versa.” _Yeah. Let me bum one._ Small notes come to his hand, “Mama and Gran sent those. They said to call or come visit more often before they die or their spirits will haunt you.” Yoshiyuki, being the most irrationally superstitious Katsumi since after Seiji’s death shudders at the talk of spirits and haunting. Another letter, “They also said don’t keep them in the same place. You’re bound to lose one so just in case.” _They turned you into the messenger boy._ A third letter, “Just in case you lose the first two, which you are more than likely to do.” _I get it already, Ayako-san!_ The three identical letters go in his pocket. Parent and child puff out gray smoke similarly, holding the cigarette the same. “Should you be smoking at your age?”

“One every now and then won’t kill me.” _Mhm, he always says that. I’d appreciate it if you explained that to a certain prude hell-bent on getting me to quit_ . “Besides, what do you mean at my age? You think your old man here doesn’t have game anymore? Well check again. When ladies come talk to me, they feel like cougars.” Takayuki chokes on the bitter smoke stinging his lungs. He has to pound the table hard to get it out. _Oh- my god! Who even says that. Shit, I’m going to die._ “You don’t have to give up on your dream of having a little sister. Just leave me alone in a room with a young Omega and voila!” _Please stop talking. My stomach hurts._ Hearing the same nostalgic laugh from the product of his life’s worth of love and hope, Yoshiyuki feels oddly touched by grace yet a dark form of it. The foreboding feeling of something shocking to appear shortly. Black hair. The smell of rain. Sapphire.

Takayuki takes a seat across from Pea and Pod going to town on the sweet treats they helped make.  Yuji stuffs his mouth full of his dense cream cheese filled pancakes topped with chocolate sauce and Seiji forks down his fattened chocolate filled pancakes topped with butter and authentic homemade lemon and mango ice cream. “Is it that good? You’re eating like you want to marry it.” They pay him attention. Yuji says, ‘It’s the  best thing ever! I could eat this everyday.’ Seiji wipes his running nose and swallows a forkful whole without chewing, ‘It’s so good my nose is running, Papa.’ Takayuki watches the devouring show with envy, “Can Papa get a little taste?”

Yuji greedily sucks his teeth and rescues his plate away from the lusting eyes, “Why do you always have to ask for our food?” _I never ask for your food!_ “Get your own. I can’t believe you want to be greedy like this, Papa.” _Did he really just say that to me?! Food is just food. Learn to share._ Little Pea uninvitingly mumbles under his breath. He takes the tiniest morsel and presents it unwillingly as if he’s being forced to, “I only have a little left.” _You have an entire plateful left! How greedy do you have to be?_  He covers the remaining steaming plate from Takayuki’s hungry eyes, “This should be enough for you, right Papa?”

Takayuki humbles himself, “No, it’s fine. I don’t want it anymore.” _I lost my appetite. I guess food is a serious thing to them._ He can see the children’s noteable internal celebrations of not having to give their food away. Minori comes walking in carrying heavy brown paper bags of groceries. Takayuki hides by the doorway, jumping out and terribly scaring his not too happy mate who loses mental and physical functions. Everything spills out of his hands.

Minori stands still in anger, waiting for one more breath to tear the evil bastard from limb to limb. But instead he attacks the impulsive man finding his misery humourous. “I almost dropped the eggs! You know I hate getting sneaked up on!” Seiji and Yuji peek their heads out, and shake in unison. _Papa is in big trouble now. I wouldn’t wanna be him._ The man in trouble apparently doesn’t realize that the anger is directed specifically toward him as he keeps chuckling at the sudden girly squeal that dropped out of Minori. “You’re really trying me today. I’m over you and your idiotic shenanigans. Why don’t you go make yourself useful somewhere else!” _Stop laughing, Papa._ Minori flips his hair haughtily and proceeds to pick up the bruised fruits and dent cans.

Takayuki lays a consoling hand on his shoulder, “You don’t have to get that mad. It was just a joke.” Minori slaps it off. _I don’t care for your stupid jokes!_ “It was pretty funny, you jumped 10 feet in the air screaming ‘Gyaa!’ How could I not laugh?” _I don’t even want to talk to you right now._ “Are you mad?” The throbbing red vein popping out of his forehead, the clenched fists, and the heavy breathing should be more than enough signs to tell him that Minori is beyond mad. Yet Takayuki densely continues talking and touching. _Give it up already!_  He finally takes a hint and leaves through the backdoor. The teens join them and are filled in on the details. They stay to watch the show. A minute later he returns with dirt-covered hands and a fresh fragrant pink rose in full bloom, trying to pin it in his mate’s hair to abate the built-up irritation. Minori turns away moodily and sassily throws his hair over his shoulder. _He just got rejected._ “Whatever. It looks better on me, anyway.”

Minori resists the urge to turn back and look at the horrifying spectacle of the dominating sweats wearing Alpha,  father of his three children ridiculously attempting to rock a flower in his thick head of abundant messy curls. He puts all his energy into not looking, but loses out to see the kind smile and face it head on with a hostile scowl faltering faster than free fall… until eventually his lips start breaking into a curve without his permission. Feeling more angry at how little control he has over his hijacked emotions constantly being toyed with in one man’s hand, he lashes out. “You look ridiculous! Fix yourself.”

Takayuki strikes the greek statue pose accentuating his muscles pointing to the sky, “Fashion is subjective. Your argument is invalid..” The dams holding his smiles and laughs back break. Just a few minutes ago he couldn’t look at the stupid gorgeous face without wanting to bash it in, now he can’t look at it without falling into his arms helplessly happy and splitting his cheeks ear to ear.

Takayuki’s arms catch the dizzy light body, Minori rejects him with what little strength he has left. “Why do you have to so...just stop!”  Thumping on his chest with quivering balls of flesh has no effect either. “Don’t make me laugh when I’m trying to stay mad at you!” _I can’t help it._ He plucks the unsuitable flower out  of the curls and unties his long flowing reddish locks. “It doesn’t suit you one bit,” a slight blush appears on his cheeks.

An undignified snort sounds from his mate with questioning eyes, “One bit? When did you start using one bit? I reckon you’re picking up some of my words.”

Minori tosses his loose hair around, tucking the flower behind his ear while returning the hysterical expression. “When did you start using reckon?”

“Wow. We really are like…”

“An old married couple. Yes, we are. You got a problem with that?”

“Why are you all defensive about it? Also, don’t finish my sentences for me!” The children snicker quietly peeking at the married couple’s pointless bickering. The blonde smacks Kouji on the chest, prompting him to act just like that with him. _Kou-chan, Kou-chan! Us too! I wanna be Daddy-san._ Playful thumps hit the bony boy’s chest and he pretends to be dead from taking the soft hits, which Kanata less than appreciates, shown by his eyebrows becoming eyebrow.

The fragrant pink rose petals tickle his nose. “It’s beautiful,” he says in a daze.

“You like them?” _But where did he get it from?_  “There’s more outside, and they were free! Let me just-” Minori pulls him back realizing it now that he starts heading from the backyard. _These can’t be from our…?_

“Takayuki-san, don’t! You can’t dig up our garden!”

He tries to affect seriousness in his tone. Takayuki tilts his head up, resting his hands by his ears and looking into his dreamy eyes. “Those stingy little trolls refused to share whatever you made with me. I only wanted a small bite, but I only bit off sour pieces of their greed. Little Pea was even singing about it.” Seiji waits a little to see where this is going before exploding. Minori unleashes an entire year’s worth of solar powered smiles, “He said,” he changes  his voice into a squeaky lispy misrepresentation of his youngest son, “Papa, it’s so good, my nose is running.” _I don’t sound like that! Papa is about to hear some strong words from me._ “I wouldn’t mind having clear sinuses too,” he says fake sniffling.

Minori clings to his arm possessively, “I’ll make some for you.” Smiling full pouty lips caress his forehead. Kanata smacks Kouji harder, possessed by the excitement. _Kan-chan, it really hurts when you do it._ The young Alpha massages his thin chest and shoulder blades. The boys pretend to not have been spying when Minori comes back in the kitchen to get started on feeding his happy family his never-ending love. Black clouds appear right before Yoshiyuki’s eyes as he passes by Takayuki skipping up the stairs. Cloudy black memories from so long ago cascade into a vortex. He suppresses them as he always has, taking Minnori by surprise tightly wrapping his arms around his waist from behind, tricking him into thinking it’s the man always attached to him in this position and not the one roughly the same height and build who he picked up the affectionate habit from. “Yoshiyuki-san, stop playing these tricks on me. Both of you are only good at getting me angry!”

Yoshiyuki rubs his hand that got smacked with the hot ladle with an unapologetically apologetic grin. Little Pea fumes at his Yuki getting stolen, taking the play too serious. _Jii-san, how could you cheat on me right to my face?_ Kanata moves closer to his big brother, he glares with hot jealousy. _Don’t touch my Kou-nii._ Yuji’s phone dings with a new message. _That better not be a girl._ He turns fiery red not knowing who to get jealous of or which brother to defend. “That necklace…” _I haven’t seen it in so long._

Minori thumbs his necklace, Kanata stares at it  green with envy. “It’s really pretty,” comes out charged with provocation. “Too bad it’s going to be mine in the future. Right, Kou-chan?” Kouji stutters, not knowing where he inserts into this sudden Omega showdown. “It’s a family heirloom, so I’ll get to have it next. Please hand it over soon, Daddy-san.” _Kan-chan, what are you saying?! Why am I involved in this?_

“Over my dead body.” The boys scoot back at the feistiness and much rarer assertiveness. “My husband gave this to me. I’m going to get buried in it, so sorry not sorry,” he flips his hair in Kanata’s face. _Oooh!! Where is Papa when we need him to stop Daddy! This is getting crazy. How long has this been going on?!_ Kanata pouts. Little Pea, getting every ounce of his pettiness from his father, dashes to the sink and fills a cup with cold water which he presents to Kanata.

“What is this for?”

“To treat that sick burn!! Hahahaha!” _Little Pea! You don’t have to kick him when he’s already feeling down. What an unpleasantly salty child._

Yoshiyuki intercedes between the sparks flying through the eye contact, “Now, now. Why don’t we all calm down.” All three Omegas turn on Yoshiyuki with hateful glares, agreeing only on their one sentence said at once, ‘Are you saying I’m the one in the wrong?” Yoshiyuki plays his I’m just an old man card, slapping himself on the head even though he should’ve known that he would be turned into the villain in the end. “It’s just a necklace. No need to spill blood over it.”

His solitary touch of the gleaming polished sapphire stone winking at him softly brings a new world back from the dead.

Before his eyes the world turns bleak, effuses to a colorless shade of sapphire, then reverts to normal. There are ominous storm clouds gathered outside symbolic of the darkness repressed inside the awakening portion of his heart that has remained cold, dead, empty for the last 34 years. Thunder breaks sharply and lightning flashes. A chilly wind rushes by him and only him. No one else feels it. The second boom of thunder and flash of lightning brings back to life his everything. A ghost presence here but not here. No physical form to reach out to him, no voice to call to him, no warmth. Only the feel of cold hands that can’t touch, the smell of rain on a day when the loss of one person meant the death of his world, the taste of tears so bitter and salty the rain couldn’t wash away. Transported to back to that day. Yoshiyuki checks his back superstitiously. No one. His frightened living eyes miss the manifested dead spirit inches away from placing his translucent fingers on his shoulder.

“Yuki!” Yoshiyuki jumps out of his skin. His neck snaps back, the familiar name, a different voice. _No, it’s not him!_ Strange things are happening today. Little Pea glumly looks him over, not expecting calling his name would spook his grandfather to death. “Jii-san, are you okay?” he asks with worry as Yoshiyuki slumps against a chair to hold his weight, holding his throbbing head. The temperature drops further to the level of the worst arctic winter, though it only affects him. He rubs the boy’s head reassuringly with a corny joke about finally getting old. His heart beats erratically all the while.

The spirit of Seiji walks among his grandchildren who he can see but none can see back. The only thing he avoids is appearing before Yoshiyuki. While Yoshiyuki has his back turned he listens in to the corny jokes being fired from cheeky grandsons to grandfather. Minori’s smile that refuses to dissipate. Kanata staring longingly at the necklace. Kouji’s huffs and annoyed eye rolls at the nonstop lame jokes. Even though he wears the sapphire that once belonged to him, looking right into hazel eyes face to face, hazel eyes see nothing. Minori walks over to the fridge, unchanged from one second to the next. _“I guess they can’t see me.”_ “Kou-chan, it kind of feels chilly in here.” Seiji turns to Kanata beginning to sense his presence, although his freckled grandson comments that he doesn’t notice the change in temperature. _“Of course.”_  Translucent hands hover at Kanata’s chest… and then rip through the chest cavity that holds his beating heart. _“It’s 2 years too soon.”_

Takayuki, leaping downstairs like a giddy child after wrapping up his work, stands motionless, dumb, and deaf to external stimuli in the doorway of the kitchen. He sees what everyone else cannot in full color as if his illusive eyes deceive him, as if… time has gone in reverse. Same clothes, age unchanged, height unchanged. Same dead man. The sallow face covered beneath the white sheet. Cold to the touch.

Hollow lifeless cheeks flush back to life with endless color.

A dreamed dream, a welcome nightmare. Because right in front of him reflected as clear as day in his wide steel gray pupils he records black hair and heterochromatic eyes wearing an impish smile that he has not seen since boyhood, one that he can scarcely recall memories of, yet is unable to utterly forget haunting his dreams. Seiji. Everything, everything.

The sounds of the soundless jovial steps toward him ring as if a real person was heading for him. What should his reaction be? His stiff limbs frozen and his throat blocked, he can’t scream. Fingers warm to the touch and no longer translucent lay gently on the lips of his blood, closing them before any hoarse sounds escape. “Not yet.” That voice. How many lonely sleepless nights has he wished to hear it just once more? To remember the pitch, its lyrical flavor? “Don’t be scared. This is only a friendly greeting.” Alive only in photographs no longer. Cold beds. Eating sets reduced from three to two. Fevers on rainy days. All of these memories associated with the absence of Seiji to him and more. A life spent wondering how apology and love could be spoken of in one breath. “We’ll talk when the time is right.” Feeling his rationality lost and his missing half found, odd-colored eyes burn into his subconscious.

Kanata, still feeling something strangely amiss, turns to the direction of Takayuki unmoving, restrained by unseen ties.

Seiji covers the steel gray eyes he knows so well. He acknowledges Kanata staring right at him, though neither hearing nor seeing him, directing his sentence that only his blood can hear to hopelessly blind blue eyes, “I am the compass for the storm to come.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter,  
> We find out the reason for Seiji's reappearance.
> 
> Katsumi Valentines Day! Includes a past peek at young Yoshiyuki and Seiji (minus the sad things and death for now, I promise :D)
> 
> What happens when Minori's side of the family reappears asking for a honest reconciliation!? The secret of the Politician's son's birth revealed!
> 
> Kan-chan moving away and forced to marry!?
> 
> The big secret no one has realized belonging to one brother, will it break the bond of brotherhood among the Katsumi boys?
> 
> The change in personality Takayuki mentioned, is it time Kouji finally starts acting like an Alpha?
> 
> One son makes a major decision that nearly destroys the close-knit family!
> 
> Takayuki/ Minori DIVORCE crisis?!! 2 BREAKUPS IN ONE CHAPTER!
> 
> One person dies at the hands of the Blood Dragons!! The person to kill him is none other than...?!
> 
> Drama! Death! Dreams! Nothing will be the same anymore! Expect jam-packed chapters heading your way!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey lettucewon!~ (ﾉ´ з `)ノ Thanks a lot for helping me back to my feet. I'm going to write this one exclusively on Kouji and Kanata's relationship, but no worries, I got romantic ideas cooked up for Yuji too that I'm going to write in the near future. (♡˙︶˙♡) (⌒▽⌒)♡ (≧◡≦) ♡


End file.
